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Starting Jimmy Clausen a Mistake for Chicago Bears

| September 22nd, 2015

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David Fales may be shit. He may be no closer to a starting NFL quarterback than Caleb Hanie or Jonathan Quinn or Henry Burris or, hell, Henry Rollins for that matter. A look at the image above reveals three words that ask a million questions: “No stats available.” Fales is an unknown. But an unknown is better than a known when that known is…

Jimmy Clausen is shit. Everyone knows this. And the Bears, according to multiple reports across Chicago, will be starting the ex-Notre Dame signal caller for as long as Jay Cutler is unable to take to the field. It’s a mistake. And another example of the Bears taking a short-sighted view of the 2015 season instead of playing the long game.

This is the reason Kyle Long was not moved to tackle until the week of the opener. This is the reason Matt Forte and Martellus Bennett were not dangled openly on the trade market. The Bears were holding out hope for a successful 2015 campaign. But that hope walked into the locker room before the half against the Arizona Cardinals.

David Fales may be shit. But he may also be a decent quarterback. Hell, he could possibly be terrific. Or maybe he’s not terrific but proves himself to be the type of sturdy backup the Bears can rely upon for years to come. The Bears will never learn this in Bourbonnais. They will never learn this in the preseason. It will take game action and the organization is presented with two wonderful opportunities, in Seattle and against the Raiders, to give Fales meaningful game action.

Starting Clausen is conservative. It is safe. But it has no ability to make the 2016 Bears a better team. And every single decision made in 2015 should be geared toward that end.

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