Raiders to face QB who was playing in Division II a year ago

Not long after playing his final game for Shepherd University last year, a buddy pulled aside Tyson Bagent with a solemn warning about his football future.

There was a good chance, the friend said, that Bagent had just made the final quarterback start of his career. Given how Bagent was about to try to make the jump from Division II to the NFL, the buddy was not overdoing it, either.

“That’s just kind of how the apple falls from the tree sometimes,” Bagent said.

Imagine Bagent’s excitement, then, with the whirlwind turn of events in the past 10 months in which he’s risen from undrafted free agent to making the 53-man roster of the Bears to getting the start for Chicago on Sunday against the Raiders.

With Justin Fields dealing with a dislocated thumb, the Bears will turn to Bagent, a record-breaking Division II quarterback who wasn’t sure a few months ago whether his career was over.

To put it all in perspective, one year ago this week Bagent threw for 296 yards and three touchdowns to lead Shepherd, a school located in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, to a blowout win over West Chester College. The crowd was listed as 2,123.

On Sunday, he will take the field at sold-out Soldier Field, and when he looks across the line of scrimmage, he will see Maxx Crosby, Robert Spillane, Marcus Peters and Tre’von Moehrig staring at him.

“The team I’m going up against Sunday is a little bit better than West Chester,” said Bagent, smiling.

While the stage is considerably bigger than what he was used to in college, certain elements will remain the same. Bagent’s preparation has not deviated since getting to the NFL. And it’s the very thing that gives him confidence he can handle the job.

In fact, for his own peace of mind, he drives himself to know the playbook backward and forward whether he is the backup or starter.

“I’m not usually that comfortable until I know the whole game plan, so I kind of put that burden on myself throughout the week — get the game plan,” he said. “Knowing it in and out gives me that confidence to go out there and play to the best of my ability.”

That was the case last week when he replaced an injured Fields against the Vikings. It isn’t unusual for coaches to scale back the playbook to accommodate the backup quarterback’s comfort level. But Bagent made sure the Bears’ staff understood he was ready to roll without restrictions.

“I just kind of told them, ‘I know you guys have a lot of faith in me, but I want to let you know I know the whole call sheet so don’t be afraid to do your thing, call your plays,” Bagent said. “Don’t hinder the offense just because I’m going in there because I’ve prepared for this all week.”

Bagent threw for 83 yards and an interception while completing 10 of 14 passes. In doing so, he earned the trust of Bears coach Matt Eberflus, who said he will play to Bagent’s strengths.

“Certainly some of it will look different,” Eberflus said. “It’ll look different for sure just because you’ve always got to play to the strength of who’s got the ball in their hands at quarterback.”

Bagent wears No. 17 to honor his father, Travis Bagent, a 17-time arm wrestling world champion. The son has a pretty strong arm, too. He was a four-year starter at Shepherd and set an NCAA record at any level with 159 career touchdown passes. He was the National Player of the Year in 2021.

“I think my life has been planned out for me ahead of time,” Bagent said. “Everything that has happened and will happen was already set in stone to happen. Coming from where I come from, I’ve pretty much beat every odd that there was for me, so I’ve got nothing to lose.”

Contact Vincent Bonsignore at vbonsignore@reviewjournal.com. Follow@VinnyBonsignore on X.