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Chicago Bears: Five pleasant surprises at halfway point

By Parker Hurley

MIAMI, FL - OCTOBER 14: Kyle Fuller #23 of the Chicago Bears intercepts the ball against Albert Wilson #15 of the Miami Dolphins in the second half of the game at Hard Rock Stadium on October 14, 2018 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images)
MIAMI, FL - OCTOBER 14: Kyle Fuller #23 of the Chicago Bears intercepts the ball against Albert Wilson #15 of the Miami Dolphins in the second half of the game at Hard Rock Stadium on October 14, 2018 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images) /
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BUFFALO, NY - NOVEMBER 04: Mitchell Trubisky #10 of the Chicago Bears tries to escape pressure from Jerry Hughes #55 of the Buffalo Bills in the first quarter during NFL game action at New Era Field on November 4, 2018 in Buffalo, New York. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images)
BUFFALO, NY – NOVEMBER 04: Mitchell Trubisky #10 of the Chicago Bears tries to escape pressure from Jerry Hughes #55 of the Buffalo Bills in the first quarter during NFL game action at New Era Field on November 4, 2018 in Buffalo, New York. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images) /

Mitch Trubisky legs

When you go from Dowell Loggains to Matt Nagy, you just assume Mitch Trubisky would progress as a passer. That does not even factor the complete overhaul at the wide receiver position along with Trubisky naturally taking a step forward as a second-year quarterback.

However, what he is doing with his legs is much more unexpected than seeing his completion percentage or touchdown count grow. First, I know Trubisky is athletic. That was one of his draws coming out of college. However, that was assumed to be on the Alex Smith, Ryan Tannehill range of athleticism.

Remember, Alex Smith ran the Urban Meyer offense in college. He has a career high of 84 rushes for 498 yards. Tannehill has a career high of 56 rushes for 311 yards. After a rookie year that saw 41 rushes for 248 yards, he figured to be in a similar area stat-wise with these quarterbacks.

However, whether it be the new offense forcing Trubisky to tuck it more or Nagy letting him loose, Trubisky is getting the job done with his feet. This year he has 38 rushes for 302 yards. He is on pace for a 600-yard season. After averaging 6.0 yards per rush on the ground last year, he is up to 7.9 yards per attempt. Smith has a career high of 6.8 and Tannehill 6.0.

While you never want your quarterback to be a primary ball carrier, he is still on pace for well under 100 carries. In fact, he is below pace for the 84 rushes Smith set a career high with. His rushing usage has not been a problem, and in fact has been a huge surprise addition to the offense.

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