Evaluating the Bears’ biggest needs over the offseason

The Sun-Times’ Mark Potash answers the Bears’ most pressing questions in the first week of their 2020 offseason:

Who should be starting at quarterback in Week 1? Who will be?

Whoever wins the training camp competition between Mitch Trubisky and the veteran the Bears should bring in to challenge him. Word of warning: While almost any newcomer is going to be the people’s choice, Matt Nagy’s offense appears very detailed and complicated and based on precise timing, with many moving parts. The odds of somebody else’s back-up (Teddy Bridgewater?) or cast-off (Nick Foles, Marcus Mariota) mastering this offense and developing chemistry and timing with this receiving corps in one offseason are fairly long.

But Trubisky figures to be the starter. You can’t rule out Ryan Pace changing his mind and acquiring an upgrade, but the Bears seem pretty determined to be right about Trubisky and will give him every chance to succeed.

How must Matt Nagy’s offense change?

Nagy also has to be more realistic about what he has to work with. He’s trying to run the Chiefs offense in Year 5 with veteran Alex Smith at quarterback when he has the Chiefs offense in Year 1 with Mitch Trubisky at quarterback. Establish the will to run. Establish the run. And play to the strength of the quarterback.

What are the Bears’ top three needs?

A more efficient quarterback — an upgrade that could come from within; A pass-catching tight end — more than just the return of Trey Burton; and a true pass rusher opposite Khalil Mack.

George McCaskey’s faith in GM Ryan Pace and Nagy was …

By the McCaskey book. George is more Bears fan than Bears owner. He isn’t Jerry Jones or Al Davis — a hands-on owner who is in-tune to what it takes to develop a winning team. He’ll continue to believe in Pace and Nagy until he doesn’t. Empty seats and the ire of his mother are more likely to sway him than any expertise about personnel evaluation, any knowledge of player development or any intuition about building a winning football team. Stay tuned.

Will Tarik Cohen be a 1,000-yard player again for the Bears?

It takes blind faith in Matt Nagy’s ability to fix this offense to say yes.

How should the Bears use their two second-round picks?

It’s early in the draft process, but players to look at include Purdue tight end Brycen Hopkins, Alabama edge rusher Terrell Lewis, Washington quarterback Jacob Eason, Oklahoma quarterback Jalen Hurts and Washington offensive tackle Trey Adams.

With similar rosters, was the 12-4 season in 2018 or the 8-8 season in 2019 more reflective of what the Bears have?

When you consider that the Bears tweaked their roster to fit their needs in 2019 and their schedule and injuries were closer to the NFL norm in 2019, you’d have to say the 2019 season more accurately reflects what the Bears have. But this is still a relatively young team with room for growth. So — assuming Matt Nagy learns from his mistakes — the Bears have a chance to move closer to the 2018 season and contend for a playoff berth in 2020.