In a Bold (And Way Too Early) Prediction, One NFL Pundit Sees Andy Dalton as the Bears’ Starting QB in 2020

Senior Bowl week always makes me obsessive over draft prospects. And admittedly, I’ve been spending a lot of time combing through anything relaying information regarding this class’ crop of quarterbacks. And yet, the idea of an established, NFL veteran QB making his way to Chicago still finds a way onto my radar.

In a piece in which he predicts the starting quarterback for each of the NFL’s 32 teams next season, Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports envisions a scenario where when the 2020 season gets underway.

1. Not Mitch Trubisky, the incumbent who has the inside track on a starting job and the support from a general manager and head coach, whose careers could hinge on how the 2017 second overall pick performs.
2. Not a draft pick who could possibly come in and win a job down the line if Trubisky struggles early in the season.

But Andy Dalton – a quarterback still under contract with the Cincinnati Bengals through the 2020 season. Umm … that’s bold.

Here’s the catch: When it comes to nailing down Bears-related news, La Canfora’s hit rate does him no favors. But for the sake of this conversation and in the interest of fairness, La Canfora makes note of Dalton’s prior relationship with new Bears OC Bill Lazor (whom La Canfora hears Dalton “loved” playing for when he was in Cincinnati).

All things considered, that’s a sensible connection (one we made a couple weeks back, when Bill Lazor was still just a Bears rumor), as is a Canfora’s thinking that a quarterbacks room with Trubisky and Dalton would be similar to that of the one the Titans had with Marcus Mariota and Ryan Tannehill entering the 2019 season.

Even still … La Canfora’s history with Bears nuggets makes me feel as if this is decidedly NOT something that would happen for Chicago (though I admit, pushing an established veteran with a good track record into a locker room a familiar face – such as Lazor – that can ease him into a new setting is not a bad idea).

At a minimum, La Canfora’s prediction is just the latest reminder of how little faith there is in Trubisky when it comes to national writers. Because even after GM Ryan Pace laid out the expectations (as if he had another choice) of Trubisky entering the 2020 season as the starter, there are still national voices that believe he will be usurped by the time the season starts. Perhaps they know something we don’t. And if that is the case, we’ll continue to keep our ears to the ground for more rumors regarding possible changes that could come to the Bears’ quarterbacks room.