Chicago Bears: Who Is Matt Barkley and Is He For Real?

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Dec 4, 2016; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bears quarterback Matt Barkley (12) warms-up before the game against the San Francisco 49ers at Soldier Field. Mandatory Credit: Caylor Arnold-USA TODAY Sports /

By all rights this 2016 season should be plummeting towards an inevitable crash to earth for the Chicago Bears. Instead they’ve somehow stayed competitive.

Over the past two weeks they were a dropped pass away from beating the Tennessee Titans and just got done hammering the San Francisco 49ers 26-6 on a snow-swept Soldier Field. A wholly unexpected architect of these two strong performances is quarterback Matt Barkley. This is a guy who was signed off the street to the teams’ practice squad in September. Not a single person worth their salt thought he would ever sniff the active roster, let alone play in a game.

Then the injuries began to hit. Jay Cutler went down with a sprained thumb and then a torn labrum in his shoulder. Brian Hoyer broken his left arm. Just like that Barkley was catapulted from scout team quarterback to starter. Bears fans everywhere got ready to cringe. If their season was ugly before, it was about to get a lot worse.

That’s when a funny thing happened. Barkley started to play well. Surprisingly well. Since becoming the starter he has thrown for 508 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. Pro Football Focus explained how well he’s done, and how much better the numbers should look if not for playing with second-rate receivers.

"“The Chicago Bears may have just found something in quarterback Matt Barkley. Forced into starting action due to the injuries of Jay Cutler and Brian Hoyer, Barkley has started each of the last two games for Chicago; he played well in each, earning PFF grades of 79.4 and 83.7, respectively. That also helps explain why his raw numbers—though not terrible—don’t match the high grades. In Week 12, the Bears dropped more passes in a single game than any other team over the last 10 years of PFF grading. The drops alone were the difference in Barkley’s actual completion percentage of 51.9 for the game, and his potential completion percentage of 74.1 percent, had his receivers simply held on to passes he delivered accurately.”"

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So who exactly is he? Barkley is a native of California. He’s a devout Christian and son of an insurance business owner. He was rated the top overall prospect of the 2009 high school football class and was recruited by head coach Pete Carroll to play in college at USC. During his time there he earned a degree in communications and made multiple humanitarian trips to Africa on Christmas vacations.

Steve Clarkson, a renowned quarterback expert who helped train Ben Roethlisberger among others, compared Barkley to a cross between Joe Montana and Tom Brady.

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