The Full Story Behind Chicago’s Quarterback Problem

[Music] the ners had Joe Montana New England had Brady and the sheriff made a name for himself in Indie but even franchises famous for lacking Talent at the quarterback position have had at least one star the Jets won a Super Bowl with Broadway Joe namoth Mark Brunell was a pro bowler with the Jaguars before they drafted Trevor Lawrence Lawrence and even the Browns a team famous for blowing first round picks on quarterbacks had Bernie Kosar yet there is one team that hasn't had their face of the franchise this team for one reason or another has been lacking Talent at the game's most important position for nearly seven decades this team is the Chicago Bears the Bears search for a quarterback has at times seemed endless the next quarterback which will be Rex grman Chicago Bears select Mitchell chabis and after trading Justin fields to the Steelers Justin Fields era in Chicago is ending after just three seasons the Bears are back to the drawing board as the only NFL team without a 4,000 yard passer the search for their first in franchise history continues although with the selection of Caleb Williams in this year's draft the chapter of inadequacy at quarterback in Chicago May finally be coming to a close but let's take a look back on what led the Bears to this point and how they became a quarterback Wasteland or once's highly touted Stars failed to reach their potential the Chicago Bears are synonymous with the NFL itself as one of the League's first franchises they boast two coaching Giants as Alum the first George halis second on the all-time wins list and winner of six NFL championships and the other of course is Mike dka a cultural icon and somewhat of a deity for both his time as a player on the 1963 championship team and as head coach of the legendary 85 Bears who won Super Bowl 20 on the back of their historically great defense yet Chicago royalty extends well beyond its coaching tree the Bears had two all-time greats at running back Hall of Famer Gail sers and arguably the greatest running back of all time Walter pton on the defensive side of the ball the Bears are known as home of the linebacker dick buttkiss whom the buiss award is named after Mike single ter linebacker of the great 85 Bears defense and Brian herlocker captain and leader of the Bears Super Bowl 41 Team all played in Chicago and all three are Hall of Famers the Bears may have many great Legends as well as a Lombardi trophy but their weakness at quarterback cannot be ignored prior to the Super Bowl era the Bears had legendary quarterback Sid lman lman a transformative Talent who changed the way quarterback was played in the NFL is the centerpiece of local lore in Chicago known as the Luckman curse a hex that some bears faithful claim claimed to be the reason for Chicago's quarterback W however the reason behind the windy City's futility a quarterback runs far deeper than witchcraft in the Super Bowl era alone Chicago has had 57 different quarterbacks start a regular season game over the last 58 years the most in the NFL and nearly one new quarterback a season when compared to teams like the Browns another organization renowned for Rapid turnover at quarterback The Bears Still cleared by 16 more starters in the same time frame over the last 30 years they have had 35 different starters at the quarterback spot an unprecedented level of signal caller turnover for a team especially when compared to teams like the Packers Patriots and Chiefs who over that same time frame had 36 starters combined but who were all these different starters in Chicago and why did all of them fail to achieve the success of quarterbacks for other franchises let's take a look back at the history of the Bears quarterback problem in the back half of the 60s Chicago paraded out five different starters between 1966 and 1969 the only season in that time frame where the Bears had one starter was in 1966 when Rudy the rifle bich started all 14 games Rudy led the NFL in passing in the year prior and similarly to Luckman may have exceeded the elusive 4,000 yard passing Mark in a more modern offense with the Bears the best Rudy accomplished was just shy of 2500 over the next few seasons Rudy was demoted a backup as he was near the tail end of his career and Chicago's era of the quarterback Carousel began from 67 to 69 Jack con Canan Larry rraw Virgil Carter and Bobby Douglas all started for the Bears with conanan appearing the most starting 24 of 42 games all were characters in their own right Douglas played in the White Sox organization after his football career ended Carter was somewhat of a football Savant helping develop Advanced football analytics while at Northwestern but the wildest of the bunch was K Canan who made cameos as an actor and a little over a decade after his playing days ended was indicted on cocaine trafficking charges although he was inevitably acquitted yet none of them amounted to much of a quarterback as over that time frame none of the starters were able to surp pass 1300 yd passing and the Bears finished with a low lead 20 33 and 3 record in the 70s it was more of the same all told the Bears had another seven starting quarterbacks in the 70s the decade started with concanon and Douglas but Kent Nicks Gary Huff Bob aini Mike fips and Vince Evans also made appearances under Center for Chicago while quarterback was clearly a concern the Silver Lining was a selection of arguably the greatest running back ever Walter Payton with the fourth overall selection in 1975 while Payton was nothing short of remarkable from the day he entered the league The Bears Still lack Clarity at the quarterback position wasting the early years of Payton's career they struggled to attain consistent success even with pton in the fold finishing the 70s with a dismal 60 83 and one record and made the playoffs only twice losing the divisional rounde in 77 and the wildcard rounde in 79 a multitude of factors could be responsible for the Bears struggles in the 70s but none more than the quarterback position with only two of their quarterbacks concanon and nalini surpassing 2,000 yards passing in a single season at the turn of the decade the bear success started to dwindle once again failing to build on any momentum they had gained from their two playoff appearances in the back half of the 70s from 1980 to 1983 the Bears had four starting quarterbacks in Four Seasons and as a result failed to finish above 500 with a cumulative record of 24 and 33 however in spite of their Misfortune excitement was starting to build in Chicago as a formation of the legendary 85 Bears defense began to take [Music] shape in 82 they hired Bears Legend Mike dead as head coach and in the same year they drafted their new franchise quarterback to be with the fifth overall pick an eccentric run and Gunner out of BYU by the name of Jim McMahon McMahon was quite the Gunslinger in college throwing for over 3,500 yards 30 touchdowns and being named a first team All-American but he was Far More Than Just a quarterback after finally leaving the restrictive BYU culture Jim spread his wings as soon as he arrived in the windy city famously appearing for the first time in Chicago with an nice cold beer in his hand Jim made waves in Chicago alita's actions didn't always please the coaching staff for ownership I came off the field Mike started yelling what did you call I said hey I called the screen pass he said why'd you throw it to Willie I said cuz he was open what are you bitching that we just scored you know in his first season with the Bears Jim led the team to a brink of a playoff appearance while there was a ton of excitement in Chicago with McMahon in place the following d draft three more big-time quarterbacks were drafted in the first round Elway went to Denver first overall and Jim Kelly went to the bills several picks later but Marino was available when the Bears selected receiver Willie G feeling confident in their selection in McMahon and the direction of the franchise the Bears ultimately decided to pass a Marino and stick with their guy wide receiver willly go in the season following the 83 draft the team continued to improve and in 84 the Bears finally turned the corner with McMahon under Center and their vaunted defense in place even though McMahon struggled to stay healthy the Bears rattled off 10 wins a division championship and appeared in the NFC championship game after their first playoff win since 1963 in the NFC Championship Game the Bears were quickly shown the door by the 49ers losing 23 to nothing Francisco 23 the Chicago Bears Nothing But Chicago made tremendous strides in 84 all while starting five different players at quarterback and although QB play was still a major concern the Bears finally felt as though they had a strong Foundation to build upon in ' 855 the Bears were out for blood all you got to do is want it as much as we know we want it want that much go finishing with the League's best defense allowing the fifth VI is points per game all time and a 15-1 record the best in the NFL the Bears cruise through the playoffs riding their defense who pitch shutouts in both the divisional round and NFC Championship game back to pass Hammer theck up by Marshall in the Super Bowl the Bears capped off the remarkable season with a 46-point scoring Outburst but again relied heavily on their defense who held New England to only 10 [Applause] points Walter Payton Mike dka Hungary Chicago finally Champions on this January day in New Orleans the 85 defense featured five pro bowlers Dave duerson Dan Hampton Otis Wilson Mike single ter and Richard Dent all of whom were drafted by the Bears between 79 and 83 in addition to their Pro Bowl honors Dent won Super Bowl MVP and single ter one defensive player of the year all told the 85 Bears featured nine pro bowlers including their first Pro Bowl quarterback Jim McMahon in nearly two decades the 85 Bears were remarkable and while McMahon made the Pro Bowl stats will show he was carried by an all-time great defense a strong offensive line and another phenomenal season by Walter Payton while no one is taking McMahon's Pro Bowl away from him his selection may be more a result of his start them off the field than his play on it Jim was a walking headline famous for his off the field Persona that was aptly characterized by his Antics in the Bears famous rap song the Super Bowl Shuffle I'm the py QB known as McMahon when I hit the turf I've got no plan I just throw my body all over the field I dance I field and of course the timey Moon journalists inquiring about his injury status while Jim may have been a pro bowler the Bear's defense and his personality carried as his play on the field was nothing short of lackluster starting only 11 games in the regular season in 85 throwing for 2500 yards and 15 touchdowns with 11 interceptions to boot after their Super Bowl season in 85 the Bears made the playoffs four more times in Five Seasons riding their defenses again but failing to make it past the NFC championship game in the back half of the 80s the Bears started five new quarterbacks in addition to Jim McMahon and Steve Fuller who both made appearances in 84 and 85 Mike Tom Zac Doug fluty Mike honesy Steve Bradley and famous head coach Jim Harbaugh all started for the Bears between 86 and ' 89 in that same time frame the greatest passing yards output from one of their quarterbacks was by Mike Tomac when he threw for just shy of 2100 yards a truly baffling statistic for a team that managed three playoff appearances and a playoff win the '90s were no different as the Bears started 13 different players at quarterback throughout the decade with some of the notables being Jim Harbaugh whose success as a head coach and quirky personality is well documented journeyman Eric Kramer who recently made headlines with his best-selling novel and of course Kade mcnown the highest drafted Bears quarterback since McMahon in ' 82 while the Bears remain successful to start the decade making playoff appearances in 90 and 91 the success slowly dwindled only making the playoffs one more time in ' 94 before the close of the decade the '90s while far from a bright spot in the Bears quarterback Carousel was home to the Bears first 3,000 yd passer in the Super Bowl era when Harbaugh threw for 3100 yards in 1991 here's your ball game don't lose track of the Downs here one play harball throw touchd down to Anderson I don't believe this there's no time on the clock the Millennium may have turned in 2000 but the Bears Misfortune at quarterback remained the same the Bears had another 13 players start at quarterback from 2000 to 2009 between 2000 and 2005 the Bears had at least two quarterbacks start a game in each season with three different starting quarterbacks in 2000 2002 and 2003 and four different starters in 2004 over this time period the Bears managed to win the NFC North twice in 2001 and 2005 but failed to get a playoff win losing both times in the divisional round rman throws the pass incomplete there are no flags on the field and the Carolina Panthers just stamp their ticket to Seattle over this time period a lot of issues played the Bears quarterback room but none more than the draft in the 2003 draft history repeated itself the Bears selected Rex Gman 22nd overall as the fourth quarterback off the board in a fairly weak class that feed featured only two true first round talents in Carson Palmer and Byron left witch the following draft the Bears felt once again they had their quarterback of the future in place and elected to pass on Stars Eli Manning Philip Rivers and Ben rothberger who were all drafted in the first round they passed on another group of strong quarterbacks in favor of their guy 20 years after they did the same in favor of McMahon after struggling in 2004 due to a Grossman injury and lack of clarity at the quarterback position the Bears had a massive decision in front of them continue to develop Grossman or go in another Direction with the number four overall pick once again Chicago decidedly went with the former while the 2005 quarterback class lacked depth there were two true first round talents available Alex Smith who inevitably went number one overall to the ners and Aaron Rogers the Bears confident in Grossman's ability to turn the corner passed on Rogers selecting running back Cedric Benson with their fourth overall selection a decision that would haunt the franchise for decades Rogers gets out floats it Cog the gr rogers's going deep he's got man open now some pressure throws it deep Jordy Nelson he's got it scrambles to his right pson runs Aaron roders is inside the pylon touchdown Packers on you on you in order to provide support to the quarterback room the Bears selected Kyle Orton in the fourth round but felt strongly about Grossman's ability heading into the 05 season in 2005 the Bears were carried by defensive player of the year Brian aracer and another strong defense kle Orton started the majority of the games for Chicago That season one Gman went down with an injury once again but Orton's poor play as a rookie throwing for only 1,00 yards with a 9-13 touch down to interception ratio discouraged the Bears despite leading them to the playoffs and The Following Season he was benched in favor of Rex Gman in 2006 with Grossman as a starter Lovey Smith and er Locker led the Bears to their best season since their 85 Super Bowl campaign on the back of another vaunted defense and talented special teams unit led by all World Return Man Devon Hester and the reliable leg of Robbie Gold they rattled off 13 wins in a first round buy even though quarterback play was still major concern the Bears continued their success in the playoffs first beating Seattle in an overtime Thriller 27 to 24 payner gets it down gold wins it and then blowing the doors off the Saints in the NFC Championship Game 3914 to make their second Super [Music] Bowl fans your dream is reality begin the migration to Miami and Super Bowl 41 in the big game the Bears got off to a hot start when all-time great Return Man Devon Hester took the opening kick off to the house Hester inside the 30 Hester's going to take it all the way for a touchdown but the Bears hopes of winning their second leardi Flatline shortly thereafter as their offense stagnated against the Colts and the pton Manning LED offense Pro too much for the bears' defense as the Colts Cruis to a 29- 17 victory in Super Bowl 41 see the Colts of Indianapolis win Super Bowl 41 even with much to be proud of in the 2006 season the Bear's poor quarterback play continued to stick out like a sore thumb Rex grman became Public Enemy Number One in Chicago with turnovers being a major concern as he threw 23 touchdowns but also 20 interceptions with heat on his back Grossman vowed to cure his turnover woes and retained his starting role the next season after committing 10 turnovers in the first three games Grossman was benched for Brian greasy greasy was mediocre at best finishing three and three as a starter throwing for 10 touchdowns and 12 interceptions grman the most despised man in Chicago returned after greasy went down with a knee injury and again had little success when grman went down with a knee injury of his own greasy was back in the starting lineup but shortly after greasy's return the Bears were eliminated from playoff contention and third Stringer Kyle Orton got the nod for the final three games finishing with a two-one record as a starter in 2007 providing some optimism in 2008 Grossman and Orton were back and a quarterback battle ensued with Orton ultimately being named a starter Orton started 15 of 16 games that season but again had limited success failing to throw for 3,000 yards and the Bears missed the playoffs by one game with a 9- s record prior to the 2009 season the Bears traded a fifth round pick to the Broncos for treay Cutler who had some solid success in Denver throwing for over 4500 yards while with the Bears however Cutler's production dipped Cutler is now most famous for his highly publicized personal life like his appearance in South Park C over there nice to meet you guys nice to meet you I mean you kind of suck but my dad says you might be good someday his presence on the reality show very cavaler a show centered around his now ex-wife Christen Cavalier's jewelry store and media coverage of their subsequent divorce while starting at quarterback for Chicago Cutler was highly polarizing although Jay was the most statistically successful Bears quarterback in the Super Bowl ERA with respect to passing yards he failed to eclipse the 4,000 yard Benchmark in Chicago and finished with a 51 and 51 record as a starter making the playoffs only once as a result Cutler was highly criticized by Bears fans thanks in large part to his super siiz contract and lack of time on the field in total Cutler missed 25 games due to injury while was Chicago in those eight seasons seven different quarterbacks replaced Cutler all of whom produced limited results Cutler managed to lead the Bears to the NFC championship game in 2011 but the Bears lost Aaron Rogers and hated rival Green Bay Packers in the championship game 14 to 21 while he certainly experienced the most statistical success out of any modern-day Bears quarterback Jay failed to live up to his contract after the 2016 season Cutler was cut and in 2017 Mike clenon was set to take over as a starter thanks to a poor showing in 2016 the Bears had another chance to find a new face at the franchise trading up for the second overall pick in the 2017 draft after much debate throughout the entire draft process the Bears selected Mitch trabis as the first quarterback overall once again passing up on other uer talented signal callers like National Champion DeShaun Watson and the electrifying but relatively unknown Gunslinger out of Texas Tech Patrick momes to Second quarterback trabis however was no slouch coming out of college he was a big bodied strong armed mobile quarterback out of UNC and while he lacked significant college experience his tools projected well to the NFL level Mitch took time to adjust to the speed of the NFL finishing with a 48 record and throwing for just over 2,000 yards in his first season as the bear starter but also showed promise in the running game while Tris struggled in his first season the Bears elected to stay the course with their young franchise quarterback just like they had with manah and Grossman when they passed on the opportunity to trade up for Josh Allen out of Wyoming who went to pick earlier to the bills and opted against selecting Lamar Jackson who went 32nd overall to the Ravens in favor of stud linebacker ran Smith in 2018 Mitch rewarded the Bears for keeping faith in him with some NFL experience under his belt trabis exploded showing why the Bears drafted him so highly Mitch threw for 3200 yards and 24 touchdowns adding another 420 yards on the ground and led the Bears to the playoffs finishing with an 113 record as a starter in the 2018 playoffs trabis struggled in the early going nearly throwing two picks but bounced back to throw for just under 200 yards in the score in the second half bringing the Bears within one point and giving hope to Chicago that they may finally have their guy with the Bears trailing 15 to 16 trabis drove the offense down the field and field goal range and it looked like the future of Chicago had finally arrived with the game-winning field goal all but guaranteed one of the most improbable postseason events in NFL history unfolded and oh he hits the upright again that's impossible after the Bears loss to the Eagles in the Wild Card round the trabis era was never the same Mitch struggled with injuries and as a result the Bears regressed the Bears still were steadfast in their decision to to stick with trabis passing on Jaylen Herz not once but twice in the 2020 draft but trais failed to improve on his sophomore Pro Bowl campaign and regressed every year after failing to eclipse the ever elusive 4,000 yard passing Mark in 2020 trabis duked it out with former Super Bowl champion Nick FES in training camp ultimately retaining his starting role but after a strong start against the Lions in week one tris's regression continued and he was benched in favor of Nick FES in week three against the Falcons BS would go on to lead a comeback Victory against the Falcons and would start the next seven games but would get injured and trabis once again returned to the field in week 12 trabis closed out the season finishing six and three in his nine starts leading the Bears to the playoffs again but they were handled by the Saints in the Wild Card round only managing to score nine points losing 21 to9 after the 2020 season the trabis era came to a close Mitch signed with the bills after the Bears didn't pick up his fifth year option and in the 2021 draft after trading up with the Giants the Bears selected a new face at the franchise Justin Fields with the 11th overall pick in addition to Fields the Bears also signed Andy Dalton in 2021 to Mentor their young QB Dalton began as a starter but after going down with an injury in week two Fields took over starting 10 games in total and finishing with a 2 and8 record as a rookie the Bears closed out the season at 6 And1 but Fields showed a ton of Promise in the running game and the Bears yet again felt as though they May finally have their answer at quarterback after Decades of waiting Fields however never proved to be the answer while electric on the field Justin struggled to produce much in the passing game thanks in part to faulty pass protection and as a result never found much success as a starter injuries accuracy issues and a lack of offensive Ingenuity plague fields in 2022 field started 15 of 17 games for Chicago with spot starts from journeyman Nathan Peterman and Trevor Sim Fields finished 2022 with a 3 and12 record as a bear signal caller but showed a ton of promise again with the first overall pick in the 20123 draft and several talented QB available the Bears found themselves in an all too familiar position after much discussion the Bears stuck to their MO just like they had with McMahon Grossman and trabis they elected to stay the course with fields and traded the number one overall pick to the Panthers passing on another opportunity to draft a highly touted quarterback like Bryce CJ stad or Anthony Richardson with a ton of hype surrounding Fields heading into the 2023 season things didn't pan out the way the Bears had intended Fields would get injured again playing 13 of 17 games with small name Tyson badget starting the remaining four Fields failed to Eclipse 2600 yd passing let alone 3 or 4,000 and following the 2023 season with the number one overall pick in hand and a plethora of talented quarterbacks at the top of the 2024 draft the Bears traded fields to the Steelers for a conditional six round pick over six decades several draft opportunities ended in disaster for the Bears where they passed on franchise altering talents in favor of someone else who ultimately never lived up to the billing all of these failures have haunted Bears fans for years but thanks to the Panthers trade in 2023 it looks like the Bears finally got their doover and learned from their mistakes in years past when they decided to move on from Justin fields and use their draft capitals like the best Prospect in quite some time Caleb Williams number one overall when you see all the things that come with Caleb Williams people have talked about the nail polish and the flare that he you know the way that he dresses and he made so much money in nil I can tell you from experience this guy has a a competitive fire in his eyes and ever since I I talked with him as a true freshman when he was at Oklahoma this is what he has been dreaming of not only this moment but being the number one pick this has been his goal he wants to go to an organization and as he told me change the culture he wants to be that engine for the Chicago Bears after navigating through nearly six Decades of desolate quarterback Wasteland played by injury lack of development and poor play while somehow winning a lardi trophy and playing for another along the way there finally seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel in Chicago only time will tell if Caleb will be the answer to the Bear's Decades of futility a quarterback but it looks like this time they've learned from their poor decisions in years past and may finally have found their 4,000 yard passer and star a quarterback for years to [Music] come thanks for watching don't forget to check out our last video which did a breakdown of the Top 10 Prospects in this year's class also be on the lookout for our next video if you enjoy this video please don't forget to like And subscribe if you have any content you'd like to see in the future please leave a comment in the comment section [Music]

Channel: First Team Football

Views: 45,884

Keywords: Chicago Bears, Quarterback, NFL Draft, Super Bowl, Caleb Williams, Justin Fields, Chicago, Bad Draft Pick, Browns, Patrick Mahomes, Tom Brady, Joe Montana, Peyton Manning, 1985 Chicago Bears, Jim McMahon, Jay Cutler, Rex Grossman, Interception, tyrique stevenson, bears trade, tj edwards

Id: gWJ6Ufck7Nk

Length: 29min 23sec (1763 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 18 2024