Tyson

Bagent

Williams and the Chicago offense has collapsed in recent weeks, including in Week 10 against a bottom-dwelling Patriots defense that sacked Williams nine times. The rookie has taken a league-high 38 sacks on the season and has been sacked on 29 percent of his pressures — the third highest rate in the NFL. Williams has been the most inaccurate quarterback in the NFL over the past month. NFL executives told The Athletic that Williams had fallen back into many of the bad habits that plagued him at USC. “He is doing the same things he did in college in terms of holding the ball and being inconsistent with his reads,” a league executive said. “He could get away with running around, throwing the ball up for grabs, throwing across his body, and he had some success doing that. You don’t get away with that at the NFL level too often. I’m a little surprised they haven’t been able to clean some of this up.” Addressing Williams’ multitude of shortcomings will be the Bears’ primary goal in the final eight weeks of the season. He’ll almost assuredly have a new head coach and offensive coordinator in 2025.

The No. 1 overall pick in this year’s draft was always expected to be named the starter, but credit the Bears for not wasting time with a phony quarterback camp battle before naming him the starter. Behind Williams is former Division II quarterback Tyson Bagent and NFL journeyman Brett Rypien — far from stiff competition for Williams. Now officially named as the starter, Williams will take all of the starting quarterback reps in camp and throughout the preseason as he prepares for his Week 1 opener in September.

Bagent won the Bears backup job prior to the season and was thrust into action after a Justin Fields thumb injury. He finishes his rookie season throwing for 859 passing yards on 143 attempts, with three touchdowns and six interceptions. Expect Bagent to be the backup in Chicago again, whether it is for Fields or a rookie.

Barring a setback in practice, Fields should be able to return from the thumb injury that has kept him sidelined over the past month. The Tyson Bagent era in Chicago is over for now. Fields enters the QB1 conversation upon his return. He was third in quarterback rushing attempts before his injury. The next seven games will effectively be a tryout for Fields as the team’s 2024 starter — or for another team willing to take on Fields as a project.

Making what should be his final start for a while, the 25-year-old undrafted rookie played No. 1 overall pick Bryce Young to a standstill in a truly wretched game of NFL football. Bagent kept it simple, avoiding sacks and peppering DJ Moore and Cole Kmet with 16 combined low-risk targets. He will now almost certainly give way to Justin Fields for Week 11 against the Lions. Although Bagent’s play has been truly remarkable by the standards of an undrafted Division II prospect, he hasn’t had the looks of a long-term No. 2. He has still almost certainly played his way into the role for 2024.

Fields got in three limited practices this week, but, on a short turnaround to Thursday Night Football, the Bears are giving him another game off as he works his way back from the thumb injury. The long rest period between now and next Sunday should allow Fields to get back on the pitch for Week 11. Tyson Bagent will get the starting nod one last time this week.

Bagent added eight carries for 70 yards. He had a solid first half as the Bears were tied with the Saints at halftime. However, in the second half, he had a rough time under pressure with several offensive line penalties and untimely errors. Bagent threw two interceptions and lost a fumble in a costly fourth quarter where the Bears were within one score of the Saints the whole period. The UDFA tossed a pair of touchdowns to Cole Kmet, but could not find his footing late. He should remain on benches in 2QB leagues, and is droppable if Justin Fields returns in Week 10 against the Panthers on Thursday Night Football.

This marks Fields’ first practice since suffering a thumb injury in Week 6. The Bears’ QB1 is officially “doubtful” for Sunday’s game against the Saints, but fantasy managers can go ahead and count him out. Tyson Bagent was named the Week 9 starter by head coach Matt Eberflus earlier in the week, but there is a chance Fields is active for Week 10’s contest on Thursday night against the Panthers. We’ll have a better idea on his Week 10 status come Monday.

We already know that Fields has been ruled out for Week 9 against the Saints, but if he has any hope of returning for their Thursday night game against the Panthers in Week 10, he will likely need to get some practice reps in this week. Until then, the Bears will continue to roll with rookie UDFA Tyson Bagent, who has good athleticism and strong pocket presence but has been inconsistent so far in his starts.

Justin Fields remains week-to-week with a thumb injury, opening the door for Bagent to start at least one more game. It’s possible Fields gets back on the practice field at some point this week, but we may not know more on that until Wednesday. Bagent threw for 232 yards and two interceptions in the Bears’ Week 8 loss to the Chargers, but did find the end zone on a one-yard rushing touchdown. The rookie UDFA has shown poise in the pocket, taking just three sacks through three games, but was overmatched by the Chargers’ defense on Sunday. Bagent will be hard to trust even in 2QB/superflex leagues after he’s scored less than 15 fantasy points per game in each of his last two starts.