Bears Twitter Q & A: John Fox, Jay Cutler … and Theo Epstein

The Sun-Times’ experts can answer your Bears questions all week on Twitter. Here’s a sampling of Tuesday’s queries sent to @MarkPotash, who responds with more than 140 characters:

The Sun-Times’ experts can answer your Bears questions all week on Twitter. Here’s a sampling of Tuesday’s queries sent to @MarkPotash, who responds with more than 140 characters:

Under normal circumstances, a coach with Fox’s resume would deserve a third year — especially considering all the roster turnover in his two seasons. But coming off the debacle in Tampa Bay, I think there’s pressure on Fox to prove he has control of this team. The Bears had a base measurement of progress this season: at the end of the year, the arrow had to be pointing up. If Fox can’t even accomplish that, Fox’s job should be in jeopardy.

If you’re referring to hope, absolutely there is — and that’s one difference between their plight today and the dreadful finish to the 2014 season. This team has a defense. This team has play-maker like Leonard Floyd who are developing. This team has the semblence of a solid offensive line with Josh Sitton, Cody Whitehair and a healthy Kyle Long in the middle. Here’s one indication that the Bears have something to work with: they are the only team in the NFL that ranks in the top 10 in both yards per play (ninth) and fewest yards allowed per play (10th).

Ha. Even Theo knows his m.o. wouldn’t work in football. There are no farm systems in football to develop players and no opposing farm systems to raid. There’s no international pool of talent. You can’t tank in the NFL. Only two players drafted in the top five in the NFL draft in the last 11 years have a Super Bowl ring (Von Miller, A.J. Hawk). The Jacksonville Jaguars have had eight consecutive top-10 picks in the draft — the last four in the top-5 — and are 2-7 this season, just like the Bears. Sorry, not even the hottest executive on the planet — Theo Epstein — could save the Bears.

I don’t think it affects his status with the Bears that much. They see it as a regrettable and careless, but honest, mistake. The supplement excuse is a common dodge, but I buy it from Jeffery, who had a bigger challenge to stay healthy this season than to be Alshon Jeffery. A lot of teams will see this as an opportunity to get a Pro Bowl quality player — it might increase his value to the Cowboys — so the demand will not go down for Jeffery. If the Bears can afford him, they’ll sign him.

The most impressive aspect of Floyd’s development this season is that he has not been relying solely on his speed to make plays. His hand technique and ability to finesse his way into utilizing what stength he has shows that he learns well and the coaching staff teaches well. With Vic Fangio putting him in a place to succeed — like the stunt that nearly led to a sack of Jameis Winston on an ill-fated play in the third quarter Sunday — Floyd should only get better from here.

The Bears don’t need a heart transplant. They have plenty of players with the will to win and the football instinct to make it happen. But many of those players are yet productive enough for that to make a difference.

George McCaskey is on record as saying he wants the team in family hands “until the second coming.” Unless you know something the rest of us don’t, that could be awhile.

It’s possible — maybe likely — that that decision already has been made. Cutler’s performance against the Buccaneers was yet more evidence that he is just too darn high-maintenance for a team like the Bears to win with. Everything has to be going his way. Sure, the Bears could do worse. But they have to know it’s time to start over. Developing Connor Shaw looks like a more promising scenario for the Bears in 2017 at this point. And Ryan Pace could acquire two candidates with even more promise in the draft and free agency. But none of them should be Jay Cutler — for their sake, and his.

The odds are against it, because John Fox deserves more than two years off a rebuild; the Bears still have a manageable schedule the rest of the way (after playing the Giants on Sunday, their final six opponents are a combined 8-15-1 in their last four games); and even if the Bears crawl to the finish, injuries will be a mitigating factor in the team’s demise.

That said, if Ryan Pace has someone in mind who is available, he won’t have too look too hard for an excuse to make a change. There has always been speculation that if Sean Peyton were ever available, Pace would jump at the chance to hire his former Saints colleague.

As for coaches, the dream choice would be Jim Harbaugh — a former Bears player who has had immediate success at every coaching stop, college or pro. And hiring Harbaugh likely would allow the Bears to keep the best commodity they currently: defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, who worked for Harbaugh at Stanford and with the 49ers.

But even though Harbaugh has a short shelf life at every stop, he’s only in his second year at Michigan and doing well. The timing just isn’t right — right now, anyway.

Of those three choices, the first-round rookie is the most likely. Cutler is almost certainly past the point of no return. His performance Sunday was so disappointing, even his next good game will be met with more skepticism than admiration. Acquiring Romo, who will turn 37 in April, might not be out of the question — especially if Ryan Pace is feeling pressure in his third season. But it’s problematic and risky on several levels, not the last of which is Romo’s injury history. If he can’t stay healthy with the Cowboys, it’s unlikely he would stay healthy with the Bears. That Romo’s $24.7 million cap hit for next season is only a $14 million hit (his 2017 base salary) for the team that acquires him might be enticing. But other teams will be in that ring, which makes the cost of acquiring Romo an x-factor.

That leaves a No. 1 pick. But if Jared Goff — the No. 1 overall pick — can’t beat out Case Keenum until Week 11, even drafting a quarterback in the first round is a crap-shoot. Tom Brady was drafted in the sixth round. Russell Wilson in the third round. Dak Prescott in the fourth round. It’s a certainty that Ryan Pace’s intuition about the most important player on any NFL team’s roster will be put to the test next spring.

If I was Bears ownership, I would be staying out of Ryan Pace’s way and letting him make that decision. If I’m Ryan Pace, I’m sticking with John Fox unless the final seven games of the season indicate he has lost control of his players and no longer can elicit not only their best effort, but their best performance.

Pretty close. Like the Bears of recent vintage, Dave Wannstedt’s final three teams were not nearly as good as they thought they were. They had high hopes and talked like a contender but never really came close in 1996 (7-9), 1997 (4-12) and 1998 (4-12). The only time they were over .500 in that span was after the 1996 opener, when they were 1-0 before losing five of their next six games.

Like these current Bears teams, you often didn’t know whether to pull for them to win or lose in the final seasons under Wannstedt in the late ‘90s. Wanny lamented not having a Brett Favre, but wouldn’t tank to get one. If the Bears had lost their final three games of the 1997 season after a 55-20 loss to the Lions on Thanksgiving Day dropped them to 2-11, they would have had the No. 1 pick and a chance to draft Peyton Manning. Instead they beat the Bills and Rams (in a miserable game) and finished 4-12 and picked fifth. They took Penn State running back Curtis Enis. The Colts had the No. 1 pick and took Manning.

Concannon, who was acquired from the Eagles for tight end Mike Ditka, died at 62 in 2005. Douglass, who set an NFL record with 968 yards in a 14-game season in 1972 (still the highest per game average, 69.1, in league history — though Michael Vick rushed for 1,039 yards in 16 games in 2006), is 69 and has not played an NFL game in 38 years.

There’s no doubt that Pace is looking to draft a quarterback in next spring’s draft, possibly in the first round. Pace was spotted at Notre Dame’s game against Miami in October, so he got a good look at both DeShone Kizer and Miami’s Brad Kaaya — both considered first-round prospects.

But there’s a long way to go. North Carolina’s Mitch Trubisky — a college starter for the first time this season — might end up being the top quarterback prospect. Clemson’s Deshaun Watson is another potential first-round prospect. You can bet that Pace is checking out every one of them and many more.

The Bears aren’t going to draft a quarterback in the first round just because they need one — especially a year after the Cowboys struck gold with Dak Prescott in the fourth round. Unless a Peyton Manning scenario develops, the Bears might be better off taking a plug-and-play offensive tackle with a top five pick — which would solidify an offense line that already looks strong in the middle with Josh Sitton, Cody Whitehair and Kyle Long — and give them a better chance of finding and developing their own Dak Prescott.