Matt Nagy developed a reputation during his time as head coach of the Chicago Bears. When it came to playing rookies, he avoided it whenever possible. Even if it was to the detriment of the team. More often than not, he would favor veteran players over rookies unless he had no other choice. The last two seasons alone were littered with examples: playing Kindle Vildor and Duke Shelley over Thomas Graham, sitting Justin Fields for Andy Dalton, and Barkevious Mingo over Trevis Gipson. It was frustrating for several people. Matt Eberflus has no such qualms.
He made that clear during his Wednesday press conference this week. He developed one principle during his long tenure in the NFL as an assistant. Never be afraid to play the young guys if they earn it. He’s seen numerous rookies step in right away and play good football. Plenty of examples back up this claim, including T.J. Ward in Cleveland, Anthony Hitchens in Dallas, and of course, Darius Leonard in Indianapolis. Fearing rookies can often be shortsighted for any coach. If a high standard is maintained and those kids are meeting it, they can (and should) play.
It won’t be any different in Chicago.
This is already playing out in practices thus far. Second round picks Kyler Gordon and Jaquan Brisker have already been running with the first-team defense through OTAs and minicamps. Then 5th round pick Braxton Jones was elevated to the starting left tackle position during a shakeup of the offensive line. He has remained in that spot ever since. Eberflus is staying true to his word. The best players will play. Experience doesn’t matter. If a coaching staff does their job when it comes to teaching, then mistakes should be limited. Perhaps that is why Nagy shied away from playing rookies.
Matt Eberflus is precisely the man needed for a Bears rebuild.
Like any self-respecting competitor, he wants to win. However, Eberflus is also practical. He understands where this roster is right now. It’s not ready. Lots of work is needed before the Bears are prepared to slug it out with the NFL’s elite. His job is weeding out the weak, finding players willing to give everything they have to the cause of winning. So be it if that means playing younger guys at the risk of more mistakes.
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The more he can learn about them in a shorter time span, the better. This way, he’ll know which players might be keepers and which positions the team might have to revisit next offseason. Gordon, Brisker, and Jones are off to great starts. Velus Jones is also making lots of noise. If all four become starters, then the 2022 draft can be called an undeniable success for Matt Eberflus and Ryan Poles.
All of this should at least make the season more watchable.
Fans will get to see rookies in action more often. Get to see them (hopefully) grow. That makes the likely difficult season somewhat bearable compared to what happened last year when Nagy rode the veterans to a 6-11 record.
Breath of fresh air, competition at practice and best players play. Isn’t that how it should always be?
And if Nagy had played rookies over veterans and struggled, you would criticize him for that. What will lend significance to this opinion piece will be if Bears veterans go elsewhere and don’t succeed, meaning maybe playing the rookies would not have, at the least, hurt. I played 10 years of football and coached high school ball for 12 years; while not apples-to-apples, the best thing about freshmen is they become sophomores, sophomores become juniors, etc.