The Saga of the Bears and Mitchell Trubisky
In 2019, Mitchell Trubisky has been an absolute mess. He constantly misses open receivers or doesn’t look their way at all. The offense has been inept, but problem number one has been Trubisky, and it’s not close. This saga is most likely coming to an end, and here is how it all happened.
Coming out of UNC, Mitchell Trubisky was raw, to say the least. Bears GM Ryan Pace was not the only one who missed the mark, as lots of analysts had Trubisky as their #1 ranked quarterback over Deshaun Watson and Patrick Mahomes. At UNC, Trubisky had the solid arm strength and was able to make good plays with his legs, but his accuracy issues were prominent in the ACC too. Trubisky consistently missed throws during his 2016-17 college season that he is still missing in his 2019-20 NFL season.
No one should knock Chicago for not drafting Mahomes, he was raw coming out of college and benefited immensely from great coaching and great players around him. However, not taking Watson with the 2nd overall pick in the 2017 NFL draft was the Bears’ biggest mistake, and has proved to be an even bigger mistake after eight weeks of this season.
So far, Trubisky’s performance in Chicago has been up and down. Sadly, it’s been mostly the latter. In his rookie campaign, Trubisky was lost in an offense that was even worse (but still pretty damn close) than what the Bears are putting on the field now. Trubisky was passing to Kendall Wright and Josh Bellamy while having a horrible coaching staff around him. This was a developmental year for him, and most fans still had optimism for the young quarterback at that point.
Matt Nagy showed up in 2018 and made Trubisky look way better than he had in his rookie season. Although Trubisky still showed some of the same issues from his college and NFL rookie season, he played much better with a good coaching staff and improved playmakers around him. His stats were average (3223 yards, 24 TDs, 12 INTs, and a 66 percent completion percentage), but he went 11-4 as a starter, even though many of those wins were due to the Bears historically good defense. The offense finished the season as average in most metrics. But again, most fans held optimism for this offense going into year three of the Trubisky era. Then half of the 2019 season happened.
Trubisky has suffered one of the worst regressions ever seen for a young player in the NFL. He went from competent in 2018 to straight-up bad in 2019. Aside from an average game against the NFC’s worst team, he has looked lost on the field. He can’t read defenses properly, which forces him to leave the pocket early and make terrible decisions. Nagy is constantly scheming receivers wide open, but Trubisky simply can’t deliver. Trubisky is not the only problem, but over half of the blame for this inept offense falls on him.
After week 7 against the Saints and week 8 against the Chargers, Trubisky has simply put some of the worst tape out there. In those two games, Trubiksy has been a fundamental mess, along with myriad mental mistakes. He throws the ball with both feet off the ground, and constantly misses open receivers. Even a below-average NFL quarterback could make the throws that Trubisky is missing.
Simply put at this point, Mitchell Trubisky is a bad quarterback and anyone who tries to defend him going forward is just wasting their breath. Unless some dramatic changes happen on offense (don’t get your hopes up), this will not be a playoff team.
I am one hundred percent out on Trubisky, and the Bears front office and coaching staff should be too. The Bears are going into the off-season with very little cap room, no first round pick, and still with a huge need at the most important position in the sport. This is a very, very tough spot for Pace and company.
When you look at the track record of quarterbacks (Glennon, Trubisky) he’s chosen, I’m not confident that Pace can bring in the right guy. His horrible track record with quarterbacks has ultimately held this team back. Hopefully, Nagy’s input will help the Bears make the right decision this time.
What Are The Bears Options?
The Bears have two second-round picks in the 2020 NFL draft, and there’s a good group of quarterbacks that will be available. Some realistic options for the Bears to target in either a late 1st or early 2nd round trade up would be Jalen Hurts or Jacob Eason. Eason fits Nagy’s system much better than Hurts does, but it’s still too early to tell with a lot of these college quarterbacks right now. As for free agency, the Bears have very little money, so Teddy Bridgewater, Dak Prescott, and Marcus Mariota are likely off the table. The only QB upgrade the Bears may be able to afford is perhaps either Case Keenum or Ryan Tannehill.
Simply put, the Bears are in a tough situation right now. They have a stellar defense and an awesome coaching staff but are being held back by bad quarterback play. With very little money and few assets, it won’t be easy turning this thing around in one off-season.
All of the analysts who picked the Bears to regress in 2019 were certainly onto something. This has many Bears fans, including myself, wondering if this whole rebuild was all for naught. 10 has nine games to prove everyone wrong. I hope he does, but I certainly hold my doubts.
If it goes as most Bears fans think it will, the Mitchell Trubisky saga in Chicago is over.
Featured Image: Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune
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