With 83.5 sacks and countless hits and hurries under his belt, Von Miller has a different kind of familiarity with NFL quarterbacks. So when the Denver Broncos stud pass-rusher weighs in with his thoughts on Mitch Trubisky after practicing against him on Wednesday, I found myself listening with intent.
“With the offensive scheme and the players he has around him, he’ll be great,” Miller said, via Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune. “He was great last year and great in college as well. He’s a franchise quarterback.”
The big takeaway here isn’t necessarily Miller’s words, which were all-too-kind (even if they were a bit hyperbolic), but instead that Trubisky made a strong enough impression as a practice opponent that led to Miller’s praise in the first place. Clearly, Trubisky did some things that left the veteran pass-rusher feeling some type of way about the second-year quarterback.
Miller calling Trubisky’s rookie season “great” was a stretch, but it’s not as if Trubisky didn’t have his moments during his 12-game stint as a starter. Trubisky displayed his deep-ball skills on big-time throws against the Panthers, on the road against the Saints, and at home against the Packers, while also showing he can leg out some big plays late in the fourth quarter against the Lions, as well as a read-option touchdown run against the Bengals. Putting Trubisky in more situations to make big throws and plays with his legs should lead to more highlights like the ones linked above in the future.