It’s not like the Chargers needed to look up Tyson Bagent on Google to find out some information on the rookie quarterback for the Chicago Bears. After he relieved an injured Justin Fields and led them to a defeat of the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday, there was no shortage of information about him.
However, there wasn’t much film of Bagent—an undrafted rookie from Shepherd, an NCAA Division II university appropriately situated in Shepherdstown, West Virginia—after that 30–12 victory. Just six athletes from the public liberal arts schools have made it to the NFL, including him.
Bagent, listed at 6-foot-3 and 213 pounds, completed 21 of 29 passes for 162 yards and one touchdown against the Raiders, his first NFL start and his second appearance in place of Fields, who has a right thumb injury that sidelined him for practice Wednesday and Thursday.
“If you’re good enough, the NFL will find you,” Chargers coach Brandon Staley said, listing Bagent’s collegiate accomplishments, including an invitation to play in the Senior Bowl. “Then in the preseason, certainly, he had to beat a lot of people out to become the second quarterback for Chicago. He has our full respect.”
Staley knows a little something about quarterbacks from small colleges.
He was one, after all.
Staley played at Mercyhurst University in Erie, Pennsylvania, a Division II school, before completing his collegiate career at the University of Dayton. Collegiate coaching stops included John Carroll University and the University of St. Thomas, in addition to Northern Illinois and the University of Tennessee.
Certainly, Bagent wasn’t completely unknown to the Chargers.
You take a good look at all of the quarterbacks,” Staley said of pre-draft scouting. “But, even if you’re looking at other positions, you are seeing him at the Senior Bowl, whether it’s in one-on-ones or in the seven-on-sevens or the actual team reps. You go back to what you saw back then, and then his performances so far in the NFL. You see a player who belongs and who is good enough to play quarterback in the NFL.”
What stands out?
Or, more to the point, what stood out against the Raiders?
“I saw a winning performance,” Staley said. “I thought that he played really well. I thought that he operated the offense and did exactly what Luke (Getsy, Chicago’s offensive coordinator) is asking him to do. I thought that he played with a lot of confidence. You could see as the game went on he played with more and more confidence and made more and more plays. … Again, it was a winning performance.”
DIFFERENT CHALLENGE
Unlike last Sunday’s opponent, the pass-first Kansas City Chiefs, the Bears would rather run the football than pass it. Chicago is the fourth-leading rushing team in the NFL through the first seven weeks of the season, piling up 989 yards on the ground while averaging 4.8 yards per carry.
