In The Pocket 2017: Mitch Trubisky NFL Draft Scouting Report

On the first installment of this year’s In The Pocket, breaking down North Carolina Tar Heels quarterback and 2017 NFL Draft prospect Mitch Trubisky.

Welcome back to In The Pocket! In case you’re unfamiliar, quarterbacks are always the talk of the town coming into any NFL Draft. So they get their own designation when it comes to our scouting. That’s the purpose of the In the Pocket series.

In this first edition of 2017 NFL Draft season, I break down one of the biggest risers in the 2017 NFL Draft, North Carolina Tar Heels quarterback Mitch Trubisky. The Tar Heels signal caller has been rising up draft boards because of his impressive redshirt junior season.

However, the reviews are mixed on Trubisky, so let’s get right to it and figure out if your team should pull the trigger on him in the 2017 NFL Draft.

The Measurables (Listed)

Height: 6-3
Weight: 220 lbs

Trubisky has good size, standing at 6-3 and his 220-pound frame is solid too. He isn’t going to wow you with his size, but that’s okay because it is more than adequate.

The Numbers

2016 (12 games): 304-447 (68 percent), 3,748 yards, 30 TDs, 6 INTs
Career: 386-572 (67.5 percent), 4,762 yards, 41 TDs, 10 INTs

In The Pocket isn’t just a look at the numbers, it is an in-depth look at the quarterback’s actual ability on the field. As my high school football coach Rob Melosky once said, “The eye in the sky doesn’t lie.” So, while Trubisky’s numbers look great on paper, let’s get to the film to see the real story.

The Eye In The Sky (all gif’s courtesy Draft Breakdown and GIPHY):

Initial Thoughts

On film, Trubisky shows he is a smooth, natural passer. He is comfortable in the pocket and shows solid awareness of the rush. Adding to his pocket awareness, his pocket mobility is solid. He can extend the play and find an open receiver or he can trust his legs to pick up the hard first downs. Trubisky throws with good anticipation and accuracy, but I question his deep ball. At times he has wide open, slam-dunk touchdowns, but his arm strength to get the ball there doesn’t show up.

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Keeping on the negative side of his game, Trubisky has a tendency to lock on his targets and it led to a majority of his interceptions. He also got way with a couple throws that should have been picked off because he was locked on his target. It is something that could really hurt him in the NFL if he isn’t able to fix it.

My favorite aspect of Trubisky’s game is his third down ability. I am taking a page from Jon Gruden here and calling Trubisky a “Third Down Monster” the rest of the draft season. I do not have the exact numbers in front of me, but I can guarantee that Trubisky was one of the best quarterbacks in college football on third down. He finds a way to move the chains and will have a very successful NFL career if he can take that with him to the league. Enough of the talk, let’s get to some actual film to show you what I am saying.

Pocket Awareness/Mobility

Trubisky shows great pocket awareness and mobility on both of these plays. On the first one, he uses his legs to extend the drive. And in the second instance he showcases his arm talent with a strike to move the chains.

Just like the first two looks, Trubisky shows his ability to move in the pocket and make things happen. In the first GIF, you see him step up to avoid the rush and he makes the defense think he is going to run, so he drops a perfect pass to his running back that results in six points. On the second GIF, his first look isn’t there and the pocket is collapsing. So he steps up and decides to tuck it and run. He gives tremendous effort on the play and gets in for six points.

Another look here of Trubisky in the pocket and making things happen when they break down. It was third-and-four, but he was able to avoid the inside pressure, make a spying defender miss, and pick up the first down.

This was one of my favorite plays from Trubisky at UNC. Down eight with 34 seconds left and the game on the line. Plays like this are what you want from your signal-caller and are concrete evidence that Trubisky has elite pocket mobility and awareness. This reminds me of Johnny Manziel in college because of the way he just makes it happen when his team needs it most. Trubisky just happens to come with a plane-ful worth of baggage and red flags.

Deep Ball Accuracy/Arm Strength

Unless you do not understand football, this GIF is pretty self-explanatory. Trubisky has his wide receiver open down the sideline, but he fails to put the ball where it needs to be. It would have been a 56-yard throw if he put it where it needed to be, but the ball fails to make it. The worst part of this play is that the pass fell incomplete when he had perfect protection and what should have been six points. North Carolina lost this game by one point, so obviously these were points that could have helped secure the win.

Same story here as the first underthrow, but different result. UNC gets six points, but Trubisky is lucky his wide receiver bailed him out or that the defensive back did not make a play on the ball. His target is wide open as he split two defenders, but the throw is poor. He had more than enough time to deliver a strike but failed to show that he has the arm to do it.

Biggest flaw: Storytime…

This interception is all about Trubisky locking on his target. What makes this even worse is the fact that two defenders read him like a book and it obviously led to the pick.

Same game, same book reading. Trubisky doesn’t fool anyone and the defender should have walked away with an interception here. If this was an NFL defender, that pass is picked off. It all leads back to him locking on his targets.

This is just an ugly play by Trubisky. He never sees the defender, who is just sitting and reading his eyes. The pick was almost returned for a touchdown, but Trubisky would again help Stanford out later in the game…

If the last interception was ugly, it is hard to find the words to describe this pick six. That defender had the easiest interception touchdown of his career because he read Trubisky like a book. I feel that this is a huge flaw in his game. NFL defenders will feast on him if he thinks he is going to lock on his targets like this in the next level.

Money

Throughout scouting Trubisky, I wrote the dollar sign ($) multiple times in my notes. I do this when a quarterback makes a big time throw because I refer to those throws as “money” in notes. Not only are the throws on the money, but they make the signal-caller some money as well. All quarterbacks have flaws, but not every quarterback can consistently make money throws like Trubisky does.

Here are four touchdown passes, in one game, that were all money throws. The first one is beautiful corner route. He leads his receiver perfectly and places the ball right where it needs to be. The second one is just as good, but for different reasons. He has pressure in his face, but still finds the climber in the back of the end zone. The last two are just beautiful fade throws. They almost look identical, which is a good thing. The last touchdown pass was to win the game with four seconds left, so money is definitely the word to describe that throw.

This is pretty. Easy money for Trubisky and one of those throws that just makes you smile.

The defender tried, but a great throw beats good coverage every single time. Money!

Overall Impression

Final Thoughts

Trubisky is definitely a first-round quarterback and I think he will be taken within the first 15 picks. His third down ability is ridiculously good and that is my favorite aspect of his game. I think his third down ability, matched with his elite pocket awareness and mobility, will give him the foundation to a solid NFL career. If your favorite team needs a quarterback, they should pull the trigger on Trubisky.

And remember:“The eye in the sky doesn’t lie.”

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