The Bears have more faith than the national media in Tyson Bagent being Caleb Williams' backup and it shows
When the Bears quickly named first overall pick Caleb Williams as the team's starting quarterback for the 2024 season, the discussion around the position changed to see who will be listed behind him on the depth chart.Outside of Williams, the Bears are set to carry three other quarterbacks into training camp: 2023 backup Tyson Bagent, […]
When the Bears quickly named first overall pick Caleb Williams as the team's starting quarterback for the 2024 season, the discussion around the position changed to see who will be listed behind him on the depth chart.
Outside of Williams, the Bears are set to carry three other quarterbacks into training camp: 2023 backup Tyson Bagent, free agent pickup Brett Rypien, and UDFA Austin Reed. From what we've seen out of OTAs and minicamp, Bagent seems to have the leg up heading into training camp and for good reason.
Surprisingly enough, Bagent and Rypien have started the same amount of games during the regular season, despite Rypien entering the league three years earlier. After beating out Nathan Peterman and P.J. Walker for the QB2 job in 2023, it appears Bagent has claimed the position once again.
Still, neither player inspires much confidence in terms of having an experienced backup on the roster behind Williams to help teach him throughout his rookie season. That's exactly why ESPN suggested, once again, this week that the Bears should explore bringing in veteran quarterback Ryan Tannehill.
While that seems like a good move on paper, it's actually far from it. Tannehill proved during his time with the Tennessee Titans that being a mentor to a young quarterback isn't something he likes to do and the Bears refusing to bring in a true experienced backup shows they have more faith in Bagent than anyone else claims to admit.
Tyson Bagent gets slightly disrespected in latest QB2 rankings
Late last week, FanDuel on X posted a graphic ranking all of the backup quarterbacks across the league from 1-32. It was actually a neat idea and one that sparked a lot of controversy on social media.
Bears fans probably recognized a familiar name atop the list in former starting quarterback Justin Fields, who was ranked as the top backup quarterback in the league behind Russell Wilson with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The Bears own backup that was listed (Bagent) was ranked 25th in the entire league. Here's the quarterbacks Bagent was listed ahead of: Josh Johnson, Hendon Hooker, Mike White, Easton Stick, Kyle Trask, Sean Clifford, and Jake Haener.
It's quite a low ranking for a player who went .500 as the Bears starting quarterback for four games after Fields went down due to a thumb injury in 2023. And for an undrafted rookie from a D2 school, it's even more impressive.
Considering all the players listed above Bagent are either recently drafted rookies or former starters at one point in their career, you can make a solid argument for where Bagent ranked on the list, but those inside the Bears organization would still disagree.
Since Bagent only appeared in five games so far in his career, no one has seen him more than the team's coaching staff in practice. It's very telling how the team feels about him when the front office passed on, and continues to pass on, adding another arm to the room behind Williams this offseason.
The Bears believe in Bagent and the development he has made heading into Year 2 in the NFL and it's time to stop talking down on him as if he's not cut out for the job.
Four Bears not named Caleb Williams that can single handedly change the 2024 season
They’ll need to have a big season.
