Caleb Williams is expected to be the franchise quarterback for the Chicago Bears for a long time. By all accounts, he’s going through some growing pains, but the work is expected to pay off big dividends for a team that has never had a passer throw for 4,000 yards in a season.
Even if Williams takes a big leap, the Bears will still need competent backups. Even Luciano Pavarotti had understudies.
Who Are the Chicago Bears’ Backup QBs?
Bears head coach Ben Johnson is overhauling the offense, but he augmented instead of rebuilding the quarterback room. He kept incumbent backup Tyson Bagent and brought in veteran Case Keenum to round things out and lend a veteran presence.
Tyson Bagent
Bagent has been on the Bears’ roster since 2023. He started four games in that same year while Justin Fields was injured. He completed 94 passes for 859 yards and three touchdowns, but he also threw six interceptions.
He’s also got the most to prove in the room. He’s the least heralded, the least likely to be considered a potential starter, and the one who seems to be having an up-and-down camp.
“I mean, there have been some days that he has,” said the Chicago Tribune’s Brad Biggs of Bagent. “There have been some practices that I think he has. And then Tyson would probably admit that he’s had some practices where, you know, it got over, and he probably said, ‘That probably wasn’t very good.’”
That being said, Bagent is a developmental quarterback who has the upside to be a solid QB2.
Case Keenum
Keenum is an 11-year veteran who brings experience to an inexperienced quarterback room. The Bears will be his ninth different team in 12 seasons. His best year was 2017 with the Minnesota Vikings, when he went 11-3 as a starter, threw for 3,547 yards, 22 touchdowns, and only seven interceptions, and led the Vikings to a Divisional Round win against the New Orleans Saints in the “Minnesota Miracle.”
Keenum won’t be expected to be the starter, and he’s not going to be there to push Williams, but he will bring stability and much-needed experience.
He’s played in 80 games, starting 66 of them and throwing for 15,175 yards, 79 touchdowns, and 51 interceptions. He told ESPN that Johnson’s offense is a “greatest hits” of all of the offenses he’s played in over the years and revealed an added challenge: No wristbands.
“Ben has put a lot of pressure on us as quarterbacks to handle playcalls without wristbands out there,” Keenum said. “New playcalls every day. Long ones with double kills and possible alerts.”
It’s an interesting wrinkle and could go a ways towards explaining why Williams has been having an uneven go of it in camp.
