Did Mitchell Trubisky have too much help at North Carolina?

Mitchell Trubisky had four of his skill players drafted in the same year as him. No other starter has had that many drafted in the same year.

One of the biggest reasons football is such a fun sport to debate is that the 11 players on the field for each team is the most of any major sport. It is very hard over one viewing to assign blame and give praise properly, especially considering the play designs, calls and formations while doing so. It leads people to easily shrug off counter points in debates, saying a player was helped or hurt by the players around him. This is applied almost specifically to quarterbacks.

What stuck out when digging into the background of Mitchell Trubisky is the amount of help he had at North Carolina. In the 2017 NFL draft, Elijah Hood, T.J. Logan, Mack Hollins and Ryan Switzer were all offensive playmakers drafted from North Carolina. While Logan and Hood are running backs, it is worth noting the two combined for 55 receptions, 386 yards, and three touchdowns. It is also worth noting that his skill players Hollins and Switzer were not drafted until the fourth round. Logan went in the fifth and Hood in the seventh. Still, what he had around him is rare when you consider that none of the 32 starters in the NFL, Mike Glennon included have had four skill players drafted in the same class as them.

Tom Brady, Josh McCown, Ben Roethlisberger, Joe Flacco, Cody Kessler, DeShone Kizer, Marcus Mariota, Paxton Lynch, Alex Smith, Carson Wentz, Eli Manning, Dak Prescott, Matt Ryan, and Cam Newton did not have a single skill player drafted the same year as they were.

Ryan Tannehill, Blake Bortles, Andy Dalton, Tom Savage, Drew Brees Brian Hoyer, Carson Palmer, and Philip Rivers had one player drafted in the same year as them, but in the fourth round or later. Those players were Cyrus Gray, Storm Johnson, Jeremy Kerley, Devin Street, Vinnie Sutherland, Javon Ringer, Kareem Kelly and Jerricho Cotchery.

Tyrod Taylor, Andrew Luck, Derek Carr, and Sam Bradford had just one skill player drafted in the same year as them, but it was a first or second round

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pick. Those players are Ryan Williams, Coby Fleener, Davante Adams, and Jermaine Gresham.

Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson, and Matthew Stafford were in the same draft as two of their helpers. Those players include J.J. Arrington, Chase Lyman, Knowshon Moreno, Mohamed Massaquoi, Bradie Ewing and Nick Toon.

DeShaun Watson, Kirk Cousins, Jameis Winston and Jared Goff have seemingly had the most help in the year before they were drafted. Those four had three players drafted in their class, Mike Williams, going before DeShaun Watson obviously being the highest player taken. Cousins first teammate was Keshawn Martin in round four, Winston had Rashad Greene in round five, and Goff had Trevor Davis round five.

Then, there is the one outlier, drafted in the same year as four of his skill players. This exercise may not have shown a direct correlation, but it is not a surprise the majority of quarterbacks starting now came from a college where none of their teammates shined. Those players clearly stuck out as someone who could lead and carry a team. Aaron Rodgers and Russell Wilson having their own tier can make someone argue there is no correlation at all,

or that two skill players is the sweet spot. However, in terms of height for Wilson and Rodgers delay to start his career both are already outliers as it is. In the cases of Carr and Luck, it can be argued that Adams and Fleener moved up a round or two thanks to those quarterbacks.

Next: What bar must Trubisky reach to be success

Of course, that same argument can made for Trubisky saying that he helped his four teammates get drafted. Still, with Trubisky already coming in with a small sample size, the situation that he came into at North Carolina should be something to keep in the back of your brain as you ponder what the height of Mitchell Trubisky can be.

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