Chicago Bears: Keeping the faith until the end

Mitch Trubisky could be better than ever for the Chicago Bears. Or….

The quarterback history of the Chicago Bears doesn’t look very impressive. That shouldn’t mean that fans should give up all hope on quarterback Mitch Trubisky. Even with the addition of Super Bowl MVP quarterback Nick Foles.

The Chicago Bears have stated that a true and fair quarterback competition is in the making. The Chicago Bears in 2017 traded up one spot to acquire a mobile, robust and natural throwing quarterback from North Carolina. Listed at 6’2″, Trubisky completed 68% of his passes for 3,748 yards with 30 touchdowns and six interceptions in 13 college games in the 2016 season.

Trubisky, as a prospect, was one of the nation’s best passers coming out of college. He had a 119 passer rating on passes 20 yards or more. That ranked 6th in all of the college quarterbacks that year. He also had a 76.9%  adjusted completion rate when facing pressure.

Not only a passer, but Trubisky also doubled as a willing scrambler when needed. He mustered 439 yards on 120 attempts with eight rushing touchdowns during his college career. Steve Palazzolo of Pro Football Focus had Mitch Trubisky being selected by the Chicago Bears during the 2017 NFL draft with the third selection.

PFF encouraged Trubisky to be the second quarterback taken behind Deshaun Watson because, despite his one year of starting experience, Trubisky showed arm strength, ability to maneuver in the pocket, and had a solid passing grade in 2016, finishing second with an 81.6 grade. These are all the same qualities Trubisky has shown as an NFL caliber quarterback.

The Chicago Bears 2018 versus 2019 season debate is a fair argument to have. While fans wanted to see, the young passer thrive and improve; he showed a slight regression. The regression as a quarterback, however, wasn’t as bad as many think they were. The baseline of Mitch Trubsiky should always go back to his rookie year.

Sure there was a different scheme and all, but it was his welcome to the NFL moment. Trubisky completed 59.4% for 2193 yards and seven touchdowns and seven interceptions.  He had his jump during his second year, first-year under Matt Nagy. Trubisky completed 66.6% of his passes for 3223 yards and 24 touchdowns with 12 interceptions.

Now a lot of fans will credit Matt Nagy and his scheme in bringing out the best in Trubisky. However, a fair amount of the fans will also blame Matt Nagy and his play calling for the games that were lost and how he approached many games in the 2019 season.

The success that Trubisky had in 2018 was a bit of both. Just about every credit you can give to the Bears in 2018, you can also find regression in 2019. The pass and run blocking were worse. The receivers dropped a ton more pass. The Running backs were not getting north and south as much as they were east and west. Penalties, along with the defense, were not even in the same realm as the 2018 season.

Why can Trubisky be better? Have you ever found yourself in losing matches of checkers with an older sibling? Only to learn how they play and prepare each move?

Trubisky lacked the knowledge of the game entering his professional career. He had to learn how to take snaps from under center, hard counts, how to call plays, read defenses, and more. Trubisky, in his rookie year, didn’t outsmart Mike Glennon. He out talented Glennon. Nick Foles could be the big brother Trubisky has been missing.