BEARS' BEST: Here's a look at the Chicago Bears' Top 5 quarterbacks in franchise history (2024)

PANTAGRAPH STAFF

Chicago Bears fans haven’t been excited about a starting quarterback for a long time now.

In fact, the Bears haven’t had the best of luck with starting QBs in most of the franchise’s 100+ year history.

The likes of Kyle Orton, Nick Foles, Brian Griese, Bobby Douglass, Bob Avellini, Vince Evans and Mike Tomczak, among many others, haven’t always inspired confidence with the Bears’ fan base, nor have they given Chicago much of a fighting chance to win games.

It seemed Chicago was the place where quarterbacks went to die.

But heading into the 2023 season – training camp opens Tuesday – Bears fans have a reason to be optimistic with Justin Fields as Chicago’s signal caller.

Fields’ first two seasons in Chicago haven’t been spectacular, and were full of challenges, both from an individual perspective and a team perspective.

But football analysts believe the best is yet to come for the young QB, the 11th overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.

While Fields looks like he will be one of the franchise’s better quarterbacks, there have been a few QBs that have led the Bears to NFC Championships and even NFL Championships, as well as a Super Bowl title.

Those signal callers make up the list of Top 5 Bears Starting Quarterbacks in franchise history.

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Sid Luckman

Luckman led the Bears from 1939 through 1950. During his 12 seasons in Chicago, he propelled the Bears to four NFL championships (1940, 1941, 1943, and 1946).

Considered by many to be one of the greatest long-range passers in NFL history, Luckman was named the NFL’s Most Valuable Player in 1943. He was also named an NFL All-Star three times (1940–1942), and was a five-time first-team All-Pro selection (1941–1944, 1947), as well as a three-time NFL passing yards leader and passing touchdowns leader (1943, 1945, and 1946).

Luckman was named to the NFL 1940s All-Decade Team, had his Chicago Bears No. 42 retired, and tied the NFL record of seven touchdown passes in a game.

The Bears great was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1965.

Jim McMahon

Known as the “Punky QB,” McMahon led the Bears to a decisive win over the New England Patriots to win the 1986 Super Bowl. The 1985 Chicago Bears were said to have had one of the greatest seasons in NFL history by Sports Illustrated magazine, with McMahon at the helm.

McMahon was selected by the Bears in the 1982 draft out of Brigham Young University, and played seven years with Chicago during his 15-year NFL career. He still holds numerous franchise quarterback records.

During the Super Bowl year, McMahon led the Bears to a 15-1 mark, although he was surrounded by great players like Walter Payton, Willie Gault and Mike Singletary on defense.

McMahon ended a breakout season with a strong performance in Super Bowl XX, which the Bears won 46–10. In that game, McMahon became the first quarterback in the history of the Super Bowl to rush for two touchdowns. McMahon earned a spot in his only Pro Bowl.

By virtue of leading the Bears to their only Super Bowl title, McMahon secured a place on the list of greatest Chicago quarterbacks.

Jay Cutler

Love him or hate him, Cutler was one of the best passing quarterbacks to wear a Bears uniform.

Cutler is by far the franchise’s all-time passing leader (23,443 yards), also throwing a franchise-high 154 touchdowns. He is also second among all Bears QBs (minimum 10 starts) in completion percentage.

Cutler led the Bears to an 11-5 record in 2010, finishing first in the NFC North and 2nd in the NFC. The Bears fell to the Green Bay Packers, 21 to 14, in the 2010 NFC Championship game. In his breakout year, Cutler threw for 3,274 yards and 23 touchdowns.

In 2012, the only other season over .500 with Cutler at the helm, the Bears were 10-6, finishing third in the NFC North.

Cutler threw for 3,666 yards in his first season, and only eclipsed that one other time in 2014 with 3,812 yards.

Jim Harbaugh

The Bears traded away Super Bowl-winning quarterback Jim McMahon after the 1988 season, which made room for Jim Harbaugh, who was a first-round selection by the team.

In four seasons as the true starter, Harbaugh led the team to the playoffs twice and to a 33-25 record, passing for 9,787 yards in these years.

In 1990, Harbaugh played and started in the first 14 games of the season. The Bears finished 11–5 and won the NFC Central division, and Harbaugh passed for 2,178 yards with 180 of 312 (57.7%) passes completed for 10 touchdowns.

The next season, Harbaugh passed for a career-high 3,121 yards with Chicago in 1991 and became the first Chicago quarterback since Vince Evans to start all 16 regular season games.

Justin Fields

Making the list is the third-year quarterback on his potential alone.

The Bears opted to stick with Fields rather than draft a quarterback with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.

Instead, Chicago traded the No. 1 pick to the Carolina Panthers in exchange for veteran receiver DJ Moore, a weapon NFL insiders believe will help Fields take the next step to becoming one of the top quarterbacks in the league.

While passing was one of the challenges Fields faced in his first two years in the league, some of that had to do with a porous offensive line and aging wide receivers.

In 2021, the former Ohio State star quarterback passed for 1,870 yards and seven touchdowns. He threw 10 interceptions while completing 58.9 percent of his passing.

In 2022, Fields passed for 2,240 yards, completing 60.4 percent of his passes. He had 17 TD passes and 11 interceptions, finishing with a quarterback rating of 85.2

Where the young QB really excelled was running the football.

Fields’ 1,143 rushing yards were the second most by a quarterback in NFL history behind only Lamar Jackson’s 1,206 yards in 2019. Fields also set a single-game record for rushing yards by an NFL quarterback with 178 against the Dolphins.

His explosive running style, coupled with a speedy veteran receiver in Moore, could catapult Fields into Chicago Bears quarterback lore and almost assures him of making the Top 5 Bears quarterbacks list.