{"id":319282,"date":"2025-08-26T15:20:12","date_gmt":"2025-08-26T15:20:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/319282\/"},"modified":"2025-08-26T15:20:12","modified_gmt":"2025-08-26T15:20:12","slug":"superior-bagent-would-break-bad-for-caleb-wing-at-halas-hall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/319282\/","title":{"rendered":"Superior Bagent would break bad for Caleb wing at Halas Hall"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n Chicago Bears quarterback Tyson Bagent (17) calls a play during the second half of an NFL preseason football game against the Kansas City Chiefs, Friday, Aug. 22, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo\/Charlie Riedel)
\n AP\n <\/p>\n

COULD THE DREAM WEEK OF TYSON BAGENT wind up generating a nightmare in the executive corridor of Halas Hall?<\/p>\n

In the space of a long weekend, the Bears’ laser-focused reserve QB:<\/p>\n

\u00b7 Signed a two-year, $10M contract extension;<\/p>\n

\u00b7 Threw for three fourth-quarter TDs to close a curious 29-27 preseason finale over host Kansas City; and,<\/p>\n

\u00b7 Planted the seeds for what could be a dandy midseason quarterback dilemma in Lake Forest.<\/p>\n

GRANTED, BAGENT’S ENDGAME HEROICS came against Chiefs reserves. And Caleb Williams partially atoned for his lost-in-space opening by helping to trim a 17-0 KC lead to 20-10 by the half.<\/p>\n

But a steady clamor is rising among a segment of the Bears’ fan base advocating for the superior future-is-now essence of Bagent.<\/p>\n

If last week were a political campaign between Bagent and Williams, there’s no question that the tattooed flame thrower from Martinsburg, West Virginia, won.<\/p>\n

BAGENT’S HUMBLE, EVOCATIVE reaction to his life-changing jackpot from Ryan Poles and associates was so uniquely moving that excerpts of it were featured on both \u201cThe NBC Nightly News\u201d and \u201cCBS Mornings.\u201d<\/p>\n

Backup quarterbacks in the NFL draw that much mainstream news attention about as often as the Bears win a Super Bowl.<\/p>\n

The clip also went viral.<\/p>\n

BAGENT CAPPED HIS HAPPY DAZE by throwing out the first pitch at Sunday’s White Sox-Minnesota game. He drew an energized response from an announced South Side crowd of 18,723.<\/p>\n

That despite the fact his ceremonial fling was high and outside and would likely have resulted in a costly pick at Arrowhead Stadium.<\/p>\n

His up-close manner with media at Rate Field continued to be friendly and straightforward.<\/p>\n

A CURSORY ANALYSIS OF BACKSTAGE REALITIES with the Bears would quickly dismiss the idea of Bagent supplanting Williams as No. 1 QB \u2014 barring a Caleb injury \u2014 anytime during the 2025 campaign.<\/p>\n

But such projection factors out that first-year head coach Ben Johnson isn’t married to Williams. Johnson is wed to the idea of clearing the way to a new culture and a whole lot of victories.<\/p>\n

Poles is the man upstairs at 1920 Football Drive with the most invested in Williams.<\/p>\n

THERE’S ALSO A CRITICAL DIFFERENCE in the startup NFL auras of Williams and Bagent:<\/p>\n

\u00b7 Williams arrived with enormous expectations both on and off the field after a sensational Heisman Trophy season at USC in 2022 followed by a confounding final year;<\/p>\n

\u00b7 Bagent came to Chicago as an afterthought, an undrafted free agent out of Division II Shepherd University, but a young QB still in a hungry, upward surge mode.<\/p>\n

WILLIAMS HAS HAD PEOPLE IN HIS EAR strongly suggesting that if he fails at his first pro stop, it’s not going to be his fault.<\/p>\n

Bagent expressed a different mantra, right out of Blue Ridge Mountains reality: \u201cI just do what I’m told in the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

If the Bears limp home from a Monday nighter at Washington Oct. 13 no better than 1-4, Williams will be under a particularly harsh microscope.<\/p>\n

Waiting in the wings will be the Bears’ freshly minted \u201cCinder-fella.\u201d<\/p>\n

Would Johnson be restrained from making the change?<\/p>\n

TWO YEARS AGO, QB 2’S SUPREMELY CONFIDENT FATHER \u2014 world-class arm wrestler Travis Bagent \u2014 said two things that now resonate more than ever:<\/p>\n

After the 2023 NFL Draft, father Bagent roared: \u201cAnyone picked before my son is a mistake. And they’re gonna find that out.\u201d<\/p>\n

The family barker also added: \u201cHe’s a $40 million quarterback, They’re going to realize that much sooner than later once he gets up to their big show.\u201d<\/p>\n

AS OF LAST THURSDAY, Tyson Bagent is within $30M of his father’s quarterback value projection \u2014 and counting.<\/p>\n

His steady ascent is now also within nightmare distance of both Williams and the executive wing at Halas Hall.<\/p>\n

* * *<\/p>\n

WEEK ONE OF THE COLLEGE FOOTBALL SEASON \u2014 this past weekend’s five games must have been a mirage \u2014 features Arch Manning and No. 1 Texas at No. 3 Ohio State in a long-awaited marquee topper (Saturday, 11 a.m., Fox; Gus Johnson and Joel Klattt).<\/p>\n

The defending national champion Buckeyes have dipped from 3 to 2-point favorites.<\/p>\n

Manning has an old-style Longhorns supporting cast. Ryan Day has typical Columbus-calling talent and the intimidating scarlet-and-gray echoes of \u201cThe Shoe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Respected SEC sage Paul Finebaum \u2014 one of the most overlooked regional specialists in the land \u2014 is calling for a Texas blowout:<\/p>\n

\u201cTexas’s talent is better and I think Ohio State is going to be hung over from last year.\u201d<\/p>\n

That’s why they play the games.<\/p>\n

Jim O’Donnell’s Sports and Media column appears each week on Sunday and Wednesday. Reach him at jimodonnelldh@yahoo.com<\/a>. All communications may be considered for publication. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n Chicago Bears quarterback Tyson Bagent throws out a ceremonial first pitch before a baseball game between the Minnesota Twins and the Chicago White Sox in Chicago, Sunday, Aug. 24, 2025. (AP Photo\/Nam Y. Huh)
\n AP\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Chicago Bears quarterback Tyson Bagent (17) calls a play during the second half of an NFL preseason football…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":319283,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2070],"tags":[374,692,391,2493,7,6,767,9,770,771],"class_list":{"0":"post-319282","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago-bears","8":"tag-bears","9":"tag-chicago","10":"tag-chicago-bears","11":"tag-chicagobears","12":"tag-football","13":"tag-nfl","14":"tag-pro-sports","15":"tag-sports","16":"tag-sports-leagues","17":"tag-sports-types"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115095746965176287","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319282","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=319282"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319282\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/319283"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=319282"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=319282"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=319282"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}