When discussing Mitch Trubisky’s rookie year, we have to separate hope and reality.
There is hope that Trubisky becomes the quarterback who puts a stop to the revolving door of mediocrity (or worse) at the position in Chicago. There is a belief that his loud tools (arm strength, accuracy, mobility) will translate and lift Trubisky from draft pick to top-flight NFL production. But the reality is that he simply isn’t that player right now. And judging by what we’ve seen so far, as well as the numbers he’s produced, Trubisky still has some developing to do.
Unfortunately, it appears as if the Bears wasted some of that development time by holding Trubisky down with the third-string offense.
Offensive Coordinator Dowell Loggains conceded Trubisky has room to grow after spending a majority of the summer as the team’s third-string quarterback.
“[Not making] excuses for him, [but] the way we chose to go about this quarterback thing, [Trubisky] wasn’t competing for a job,” Loggains said, via Mark Potash of the Chicago Sun-Times. “He was taking [third-team] reps. There’s a lot of growth that’s going to take place with him, and a lot of it was because he wasn’t competing for a job. He wasn’t getting starter reps, and his reps were limited. The best way to grow through this process is to just go out and play.”
Alright, so the highly touted rookie whose career will dictate the future of GM Ryan Pace, Head Coach John Fox, and countless others at Halas Hall still has some catching up to do. That makes sense, considering Trubisky made just 13 starts in college and Sunday will mark just his 18th since graduating high school.
Rich Gannon, an All-Pro quarterback and NFL MVP during his time with the Oakland Raiders, recently said Trubisky wasn’t ready for prime time and the Bears were game planning around it. To be fair, Trubisky didn’t need to be ready for prime-time because the Bears weren’t playing games of consequence in a rebuilding year. What the Bears needed Trubisky to be was competent. And with a 2-2 record so far, I’d venture to say he’s been just that.
In any case, Trubisky has long been seen as a project, but it’s worth asking if there was any point before Mike Glennon’s benching where the Bears believed the time to start his development clock should have come sooner than it did. Fox had seen enough of Glennon after four weeks, a 1-3 record, and a growing number of turnovers. However, not seeing enough of Trubisky could be something that holds back the offense in the future.