Top- 15 status would make Mike a keeper
The Sun- Times’ experts can answer your Bears questions all week on Twitter. Here’s a sampling of Tuesday’s queries sent to @ patrickfinley, who responds with more than 140 characters:
@ tomborko93: Let’s say [ Mike] Glennon has a decent year, top- 15 quarterback, do the Bears pick up Year 2 and trade him, then go with [ Mitch] Trubisky in Year 2, or will it be longer?
A: Do you know how hard it is to be the 15th- best quarterback in the NFL?
Glennon would have to be better than four of the following: Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Derek Carr, Kirk Cousins, Andy Dalton, Andrew Luck, Eli Manning, Marcus Mariota, Cam Newton, Dak Prescott, Philip Rivers, Aaron Rodgers, Ben Roethlisberger, Matt Ryan, Matthew Stafford, Carson Wentz, Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston.
If Glennon can do that, then, yes, the Bears would be wise to start him in Year 2. There’d be rioting if they didn’t.
@ BrianPaneral: Do you think [ general manager Ryan] Pace and the brass viewed Trubisky as too good to pass up or was [ the] secondary considered stable enough to not take [ safety Jamal] Adams?
A: The former. Pace’s strategy in March—“The shotgun approach of adding a lot of players in free agency,” he said last week— meant the Bears weren’t absolutely forced to draft a cornerback or safety in the first round. I wouldn’t confuse that with the Bears being satisfied. After all, they drafted free safety Eddie Jackson in the fourth round.
@ DerTonMeister: Which free agent will have the biggest impact on the Bears this coming season?
A: Glennon. In the Bears’ perfect world, he’ll take every relevant snap in 2017.
@ jbkramer85: Why do [ people] believe [ John] Fox and Co. will be out after 2017? Trubisky fits [ coordinator Dowell] Loggains’ scheme, and, considering his development, I think they’d get more time.
A: The Bears are coming off their worst record since the implementation of the 16- game schedule. In Las Vegas, the over/ under for next season is five wins. Rebuild or not, Fox needs to show positive momentum to convince the masses to be as patient as you are.
@ TreyBizzy: Outside of Trubisky, who is the most intriguing Bears draft pick this year?
A: We need to cool it with the “Baby Gronk” nickname— every good white tight end is not Rob Gronkowski— but Adam Shaheen is nothing if not intriguing. The 6- 6, 278- pounder looked like he was playing against little kids in college. At Division II Ashland, though, were his opponents closer to little kids than elite NFL players? Time will tell. Pace’s selection of Shaheen in the second round is a pure upside play.
@ frankiemeyers: Between [ Ka’Deem] Carey, [ Jeremy] Langford and [ fourth- round pick Tarik] Cohen, who is the most likely to be cut come fall?
A: Cohen, aka “Chicken Salad” — now that’s a nickname to rally around— was drafted to be the Bears’ “Joker,” or third- down back, a job that fits Langford and signee Benny Cunningham more than Carey. Still, Carey should be the most nervous.