Should Andy Dalton Start for the Bears Week 1?
Head coach Matt Nagy has dug in on saying Andy Dalton will be the starter for the Chicago Bears to open the season. Of course, he may change his mind at any time, but it has raised some eyebrows since most find Justin Fields to be a stronger playmaker even if he has yet to play a down in the NFL. There really are a couple of things that impact this decision. You have to evaluate information to get over a series of weeks and months. For starters, Andy Dalton was promised that he could come here and be the starting quarterback. Were talking about Chicago, but no one ever said youd be under center for the entire season. Things could always change, but they know that Fields is a rookie quarterback who needs some work. Lets take a look at 2016 with the Eagles. Carson Wentz came in, and he played up at North Dakota State. Its not FBS, but from a pro-style offense from being ready to play more than most worky quarterbacks, Carson Wentz was ready to play. The Eagles did say that they didnt want to play him in that season. But things worked out, and they played him over Chase Daniel. You flip the script five years ahead to now, and Matt Nagy says that they want to go with Andy Dalton this season. We want to take it as the Chiefs did with Nagy and Patrick Mahomes in 2017, his last year as offensive coordinator with the Chiefs, where they were so stern about not playing him. The thing with Mahomes was that he was so raw and unrefined and clearly not ready to play. That was the right time. Mahomes was so raw, but he was a brilliant kid. So this helped them make their decision late in 2017 when they knew that theyd seen enough in practice and felt that Mahomes would be ready. Then they were right in 2018 when they decided to trade Alex Smith. As you fast forward at this situation with Fields, he seems ready in some ways from maturity level. Hes a really smart kid, good uppercut, good family upbringing. However, from a mechanical standpoint and from talking to teams around, he needs more work, and they dont want to rush it. Now, the good thing is hes going to have a training camp, and hell have a pre-season. So theyre going to be able to work with him. Fields is in great hands here with Matt Nagy. Whos developed quarterbacks with Bill Lazor, who was with Andy Dalton in Cincinnati. Lazor was one of the best quarterback developers. If the Bears have a losing record at mid-season, theyll likely pull the plug  theres no question about it. If theyve got a winning record and are in the NFC North race, I think it will be better than people expected, and the Chicago Bears will stay with Andy Dalton in 2021-22. The Chicago Bears are +4800 to win Super Bowl LVI, per the FanDuel Sportsbook.