NFL
By: Kristy Love
The undrafted rookie quarterback Tyson Bagent is trying to get an official spot on the roster for the Chicago Bears to start his sports career as a quarterback. Bagent showed up and showed out during training camp and the preseason games. Minus the little mistakes, he has a fair shot of getting that second spot behind star QB Justin Fields. Let us do a deep dive into who Bagent is and where he comes from.
The Chicago Bears brought Tyson Bagent after going undrafted in the 2023 NFL draft in April. Bagent attended Martinsburg High School in Martinsburg, Virginia. Bagent played football and basketball, and he was named West Virginia Gatorade Player of the Year for achieving 41 touchdowns and finished his HS career with 7,800 yards with 11 touchdowns. With outstanding numbers in high school, colleges such as Robert Morris Univeristy and Albany reached out to him; however, he decided to commit to Shepard. Shepard is a division II school, but Bagnent was having a field day.
Tyson was named a starter as a freshman for the Shepard Rams and was named All-Mountain East Conference. As Bagnet continued to rise, his junior year was canceled due to the global world pandemic due to COVID-19. In 2021, Tyson Bagnet was named PSAC East Offensive Player of the Year, and he entered the transfer portal to visit West Virginia and Maryland; however, Bagnet was committed to Sheperd.
During his remaining time there, he broke the record for touchdown passes in 2022 across all the NCAA divisions with 159. Bagent leads Division II in completions 40, which stood second in passing yards 4,580. Bagent had a completion percentage of 69.9% and 41 passing touchdowns.
With high school and college stats, as Bagnet had, you would think he would get drafted in the NFL draft. I’m not saying he should be a first or second-round. However, he would have been drafted, right? Well wrong. Tyson Bagnet was undrafted in this year’s NFL draft. During the NFL combine, Tyson Bagent didn’t do too well, which caused him to get undrafted. However, the need for a QB behind The Chicago Bears star quarterback Justin Fields is immediate. The Bears had signed PJ Walker to a two-year $4 Million deal from the Carolina Panthers. Bears GM also saw something special in Tyson Bagent and brought him in to compete for the two slots on the 53-man roster.
During training camp for the Chicago Bears, Tyson Bagent got his chance to sign, as Walker made plenty of mistakes during the preseason. During the preseason game two against the Indianapolis Colts, Bagent made a statement to show the coaching staff, upper management, and most importantly, the fans that he deserve a spot on the roster. QB Justin Fields stated,
“Tyson has been great,” Justin Fields said. “From Day 1, he has came in and worked hard. Humble guy. Just a hard worker. He’s a sponge. He asks a lot of questions. He’s very curious about the game, about the offense. So, he has been a great addition to the (quarterback) room. I’m just excited to see what he does in the future, and of course, I’m excited to see his success that he has had on the field. It’s just great to see because he is a hard worker. Just if you get to know him more as a person, you’ll see that. He is a humble person, and he’s a great guy just in general. So definitely happy for my man Tyson for sure.”
Tyson Bagent has yet to officially be named the second quarterback for the Chicago Bears; however, with PJ Walker getting cut, Bagent is a finalist now. With the roster cuts deadline quickly approaching (Tuesday at 3 pm CT), the Bears have a great option to choose from to be behind Fields.
