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One of the most intriguing and competitive training camp/preseason battles for the Chicago Bears this summer will involve the backup quarterback position.
Joe Tansey of Bleacher Report on Monday, July 22, named un-drafted free agent quarterback Austin Reed as among the top three players on the Bears’ roster poised for a breakout campaign during camp.
“Tyson Bagent is the incumbent backup, but he did not blow everyone away in his starts in 2023. Brett Rypien has some NFL experience as a spot starter, but he has been a career backup,” Tansey wrote. “That opens up the possibility for rookie Austin Reed to shine in preseason and jump over at least one of those players on the depth chart.”
Questions Over Arm Strength Contributed to Austin Reed Falling Out of NFL Draft
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GettyChicago Bears rookie quarterback Austin Reed.
Like Bagent did the year before him, Reed joined Chicago following the NFL draft looking to prove himself coming off of a prolific collegiate career that he pursued outside of the NCAA’s power conferences.
Reed attended Western Kentucky of Conference USA, throwing for north of 8,000 yards across the past two seasons. He also completed 63.2% of his 1,073 pass attempts and threw for 71 TDs along with 22 INTs, per Sports Reference.
Reed is 24, stands just shy of of 6-feet-2 and weighs 220 pounds. Lance Zierlein of NFL.com noted Reed’s escapability as one of his better traits, though criticized his arm talent.
“He’s a competitor who can slip away from pressure and make plays out of structure, but he simply doesn’t have the arm to make the intermediate and deep throws required for the position in the NFL,” Zierlein wrote.
He went on to predict Reed as a fifth- or sixth-round pick, which proved an overestimation, as the QB slipped out of the draft and landed with the Bears on a three-year, $2.8 million contract with just $5,000 guaranteed.
Austin Reed Must Follow Similar Path to Spot With Bears as Tyson Bagent
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GettyChicago Bears quarterback Tyson Bagent.
Reed will compete with Bagent, who also fell out of the draft in 2023 after a prolific career of his own at Shepherd University, a Division II program in West Virginia. While there, Bagent threw for more than 17,000 passing yards and 159 passing TDs.
A strong preseason in 2023 helped Bagent beat out PJ Walker for the backup job behind Justin Fields, which led to Bagent appearing in five games and making four starts as a rookie. He finished with a 2-2 record and ended the campaign with 859 passing yards, 3 TDs and 6 INTs.
Bagent’s relatively rapid ascension to second-string bodes well for Reed’s chances to repeat that success in a vacuum, though it bodes simultaneously ill because Bagent will be his primary competition for the job under new offensive coordinator Shane Waldron.
Another factor potentially standing in Reed’s way is his status as a rookie, the same as starter Caleb Williams. Tansey noted that Waldron may want a bit more experience in the No. 2 slot behind the top overall pick, which would favor either Bagent or Rypien.
Rypien has been an NFL player for four seasons with the Denver Broncos and Los Angeles Rams, though he has started just four games over that span and also has a record of 2-2. Rypien has thrown for 4 TDs and 9 INTs across 10 appearances and has more or less cemented himself as a career backup.
Reed may not be able to leapfrog both Bagent and Rypien in one fell swoop, though the backup job seems to be wide open in Chicago, so getting to third-string will be the first step for Reed in his pursuit of a long career.
