We at Bear Goggles On have decided to count down the days until the Chicago Bears’ regular season opener on September 13th against their arch-rivals, the Green Bay Packers. As of today, there are 15 days until the big day, giving us a reason to give you a profile on #15, QB Shane Carden.
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“Who is Shane Carden?” you may be asking.
He is a rookie quarterback that was undrafted out of East Carolina and currently 4th on the Bears depth chart at the position.
In 2013, he started all 13 games for East Carolina, completing 387 of 549 passes for a school record 4,139 yards, 33 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He also rushed for ten touchdowns. For his play he was named the Conference USA Most Valuable Player.
During his senior season in 2014, Carden set the school record for career passing yards and passing touchdowns, passing David Garrard and Dominique Davis‘ records.
Instead of taking a more traditional approach to upgrade at quarterback — the Bears passed on drafting Colorado State’s Garett Grayson at No. 71 and UCLA’s Brett Hundley at No. 142. First-year general manager Ryan Pace worked hard behind to scenes to sign Carden after the quarterback went undrafted.
Aug 13, 2015; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bears running back Senorise Perry (center) is congratulated by quarterback Shane Carden (left) and offensive tackle Tayo Fabuluje (right) after his 54 yard touchdown run during the second half of a preseason NFL football game against the Miami Dolphins at Soldier Field. Chicago won 27-10. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports
2015 Outlook
I don’t think there’s any mystery here that Jay Cutler is the main guy in 2015. In 15 starts last season, he completed 370 of 561 pass attempts (66 percent) for 3,812 yards and 28 touchdowns. The bigger question with Cutler is will he remain the starter in 2016?
Well there aren’t too many options or depth behind Jay but Adam Gase has already endorsed Jimmy Clausen (1-10 career record) as the #2 quarterback. Selected by the Bears in the sixth round of the 2014 NFL draft, 3rd-stringer David Fales did not appear in a game in his rookie year so there’s not much to go on with him.
Can Carden beat out Fales and make the roster to start the season? I think he will seeing that Fales was a draft pick of the previous regime and I think that the Bears will keep 3 quarterbacks on the roster to start the season.
Carden’s scouting report says that he has work ethic and toughness that NFL teams covet in a quarterback prospect, as well as the ability to throw with accuracy. With that said, he went undrafted mainly because of his lack of arm strength and ability to push the ball down the field.
Can Carden be a long term answer if Jay does not work out after this season? It’s highly unlikely, but just because he was undrafted DOES NOT mean that he cannot have a successful NFL career. I will leave you with a few undrafted quarterbacks that had great careers:
Can Carden be the next Kurt Warner? Leave a comment and let me know! BEAR DOWN!
Next: Alshon Jeffrey Days Until the Bears Season Opener