Chicago Bears: What could have been with Tom Brady at quarterback

What about the Chicago Bears skill positions?

Outside of the offensive line, which is still in the Bucs favor, just not as much as most fans want to believe, what about the other positions on offense? If we look at the running back position, depth is definitely in the Bucs’ favor. That said, I think David Montgomery more than proved himself worthy this season and would be an apples-to-apples replacement for Leonard Fournette. Ronald Jones as the backup far exceeds what the Bears have on their roster though.

Wide receiver also is in the Bucs’ favor. Allen Robinson and Mike Evans are probably about equal, although as a big Evans fan my bias is in his favor. Evans has proven year after year just how good he is, whereas Robinson has had a few down seasons. Again, for argument’s sake, we will say they are equal. Chris Godwin is exceptionally better than Anthony Miller and at this point still better than Darnell Mooney. Mooney hopes to reach Godwin’s production levels and definitely could.

As far as Antonio Brown, I am not sure if the Chicago Bears bring him in or not, but you’d have to think that Ryan Pace is going to do whatever it takes to keep Tom Brady happy if he was convinced to come here to Chicago. Therefore, I am throwing Brown out of the equation.

At tight end, the Bucs have one of the best tight ends to ever play the game, but so do the Chicago Bears. Wait, what? Yes, I said it. Rob Gronkowski looked different in the Super Bowl, but if you watched him all year, he only had a few flashes throughout the season. Sound like another aging tight end in the league who was once regarded as one of the best to ever play at the position? Yes, Jimmy Graham played nearly as well as Gronkowski did this season.

Then you have the younger guys. Cole Kmet is not on the same level as O.J. Howard at this point in his career, but his trajectory is pointing up and honestly, will probably be better than Howard when everything is all said and done. Howard went out with a season-ending injury early in the 2020 season, but Cameron Brate was about equal to Kmet in regards to production.

What’s the point? Well, there really is not one other than we as Chicago Bears fans once again can look at “what could have been”. What could have been if Ryan Pace drafted Deshaun Watson or Patrick Mahomes over Mitch Trubisky. What could have been if Ryan Pace selected George Kittle instead of Adam Shaheen. What could have been if the Chicago Bears convinced Tom Brady to come to Chicago instead of Tampa Bay.

The team might not have won a Super Bowl, but they had the tools to be much better had Brady came here instead of deciding to play for the Bucs. I’m not the biggest Matt Nagy fan, but I think he grew up some this season. Taking himself off play-calling duties was a big step for Nagy that I hope carries over to 2021 since he was retained. Could having Brady had made a difference? The answer is clearly yes. Would it have won them Super Bowl 55? We will never know.