Even though the Chicago Bears took Ohio State product Justin Fields with their first-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, head coach Matt Nagy is sticking to his guns and believes quarterback Andy Dalton will be under center for the team when the regular season kicks off in September.
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"Andy is the starter," Nagy told reporters after rookie minicamp concluded this past weekend. "Andy’s going to get the one reps."
Back in March when the Bears signed Dalton in free agency, the team’s social media account tweeted out "QB1" with a picture of Dalton sporting the team’s uniform. It immediately drew backlash from the Bears fan base.
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The Bears have struggled mightily at the quarterback position for two decades. Since 2000 the "Monsters of the Midway" have seen 24 starting quarterbacks line up under center.
Most recently, Chicago drafted quarterback Mitchell Trubisky with the second overall pick in the 2017 draft ahead of Deshaun Watson and Patrick Mahomes, and now he is backing up Bills quarterback Josh Allen in Buffalo after the Bears decided not to bring him back.
Desperate for a quarterback of the future, the Bears decided to trade up to the No. 11 pick and they took Fields, who is already giving Chicago fans hope heading into the future. NBC Sports reported that Fields couldn’t be called "anything other than a success" this past weekend at rookie minicamps.
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"He was accurate (I only saw one pass I would call poor) and showed absolutely zero issues taking snaps from center," Hoge tweeted out. "Like a Pro Day, it looked like it should -- very good."
If Fields continues to display this level of play during the summer months and throughout the preseason, Nagy may have no choice but to insert Fields into the starting lineup when the season rolls around.