NEWSLETTER
I think what the Bears did last night, in trading up to take UNC quarterback Mitchell Trubisky as the QB of the future, deservedly generates a lot of debate. Was he really the best of this crop of quarterbacks? With so little experience, can Ryan Pace be so confident as to effectively pin his own future on that of Trubisky? Should the Bears have gone with a developmental quarterback this year, played under Mike Glennon, and then seen what was available next year in a possibly better QB crop? Should the Bears be applauded for having the conviction to finally go after a new franchise quarterback?
Those are, to me, all great discussions and debates to have. And we’ll have them for many, many months ahead (years, even).
There is one aspect of the draft decision, however, that I want to put to bed.
I saw an anthem banging around among Bears fans who were upset with the decision to trade up last night: “Why did they give up multiple picks to move up just one spot when the 49ers weren’t going to take Trubisky anyway? What are these idiots doing!? Didn’t they know they were just throwing those picks away?!?!”
This strikes me as … silly.
Although it’s completely reasonable to debate – and criticize! – the decision to go so hard after Trubisky, it’s another animal to suggest that you know he was definitely going to be there at pick three for the Bears. How on earth could we know that? In fact, all evidence leading up to the draft was to the contrary, as the 49ers were not at all bashful in their public efforts to sell that number two pick, and the only teams that would be jumping on that offer would be teams looking to take a quarterback.
To that end, if you need some reported confirmation, Adam Jahns offers it this morning: yes, there were several other teams looking to trade up ahead of the Bears. Specifically, sources tell Jahns that the Browns, Chiefs, Cardinals, and Texans were all looking to trade up to get a quarterback, and the Browns and Chiefs were very high on Trubisky. (The Chiefs and Texans each ultimately did trade up to get a quarterback, although they did not get Trubisky.)
I don’t think it’s at all unreasonable to believe that, had the Bears not aggressively pursued that trade up, the 49ers would have instead dealt number two to the Browns, who would have taken Trubisky. And, given that the Bears clearly had him pegged as *the guy* they wanted all along, they decided they could not let that happen.
So it doesn’t matter that the 49ers weren’t going to draft Mitchell Trubisky. They very well were going to trade that pick to a team that was going to draft him. The Bears made sure it was them.
Again: was that a bad decision? Too aggressive? Too narrowly focused? Those are all excellent debates to have.
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