A year ago at this time, ESPN’s insiders were painting a bleak picture of the Chicago Bears’ future. The head coach was on the hot seat, the rookie quarterback had no one to throw to, and the relationship between the coach and his general manager appeared to be on the rocks. But despite the Bears addressing the major issues concerning the team’s future, ESPN still doesn’t think the future is bright in Chicago.
Once again, ESPN’s league insiders ranked each of the NFL’s 32 teams and dissected which ones are in the best shape moving forward over the next three years and the Bears ranked 25th. Sure, they’re in a better spot than they were last year when they were ranked 29th … but come on!
Things have changed drastically since ESPN did this exercise last year. There is a new head coach in town who knows a thing or two about developing quarterbacks, the second-year quarterback has an improved group of pass catchers to target, and things between the coach and general manager couldn’t be any better as they appear to be working hand-in-hand to turn things around in Chicago. The next three years look brighter now than they did last year or at any time in the last three or four seasons.
To be fair, the Bears have a lot to prove on the field. Matt Nagy has to prove himself as an upgrade at head coach and as a play-caller. Mitch Trubisky has to show he can take that much-talked-about next step that the likes of Carson Wentz and Jared Goff took last season. The team’s new-look receiving corps needs to put on tape that they are truly better than last year’s collection of players who struggled.
There are a lot of questions that need to be answered, but we’ll get them soon enough as training camp’s first public practice is scheduled for Saturday.