Brad Biggs at the Chicago Tribune has 10 thoughts after Sunday’s loss to the Buccaneers:
“In talking with a handful of national and college scouts the last two weeks about quarterback Tyson Bagent, they all gave the Bears props for landing the undrafted rookie from Division II Shepherd University. Last week in 10 thoughts, offensive coordinator Luke Getsy outlined the plan for developing Bagent in practice and as the current No. 3 quarterback on the depth chart.
“I was curious what they saw in Bagent and how their reports read back in the spring when he wasn’t selected in a draft that saw 14 quarterbacks selected, including one in Round 6 (Tanner McKee by the Philadelphia Eagles) and one in Round 7 (Max Duggan by the Los Angeles Chargers).”
There’s a lot of good stuff here including quotes from a few scouts about Bagent’s evaluation and his potential in the NFL. But it wasn’t the content of this section that stuck me. It was the fact that it was there at all.
Bagent was already on my radar (along with that of every other fan in the city of Chicago). I liked what I saw of Bagent in the preseason. I like the way he moves in the pocket, I like his accuracy, I like the way he carries himself. But I like a lot of quarterbacks and I don’t see the practices. So needless to say that the fact that I like the look of a guy doesn’t mean that they’re going to be any good in the NFL.
But it’s notable that Biggs has brought Bagent up in this column two weeks in a row. Rooting for the Bears over a number of years, you develop a sense for which journalists in Chicago who know what they’re talking about and, to be honest, I don’t think there are many that do. Don’t get me wrong. As far as I can tell, they’re almost all good reporters. But when it comes to editorializing about football… well, lets just say that you could often get the same opinions from a typical fan and leave it at that.
In my opinion, Biggs and one of two others are different.
There’s a reason why so many of my blog posts start with a quote from one of one of Biggs’ articles. Based upon what he writes, Biggs seems to be more insightful and intelligent that most and he has been around a long time. He has seen some things. I trust him and when he starts paying attention in season to a third string undrafted rookie quarterback who hasn’t been on the field, it might be time for the rest of us to start paying attention, as well.
Usually when fans and media get over their skis about an undrafted rookie quarterback, my automatic reaction is to think, “Yeah, typical media. Typical fans. The back up is always the most popular quarterback in town. And if this guy is so good, why didn’t someone draft him?” But my antennae are up now. Bagent could be different.