Chicago Bears: Texans provide blueprint to rookie development

Chicago Bears head coach John Fox should look at how the Houston Texans treat Deshaun Watson to help Mitch Trubisky’s development.

The Chicago Bears put up a good fight in New Orleans against the Saints in Week 8, but ultimately took a loss. The offense looked better than they did last week against the Carolina Panthers, but still struggled.

This offense is juvenile and predictable. They ran the ball on nine of their 17 first downs. The only problem is that of the eight passes they made on first down, five of them came in the fourth quarter. That made life easier for the Saints defense. They knew what was coming on first down and stacked the box. Because of that, the Bears ended up in a lot of long yardage situations.

Putting Mitch Trubisky in a lot of second third-and-long situations doesn’t help his development. I understand that the wide receivers aren’t getting open and many don’t want to put too much on Trubisky’s plate as a rookie, but how about tailoring some of the offense to his strengths?

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Head coach John Fox needs to look at how the Houston Texans treat rookie quarterback Deshaun Watson. Texans head coach Bill O’Brien felt the same way about Watson as Fox does about Trubisky. Both coaches are old school who don’t trust rookies. The difference in how they use their rookie is the way O’Brien uses Watson’s strengths.

ESPN’s Bill Barnwell wrote about how O’Brien tailored some of his offense to help Watson. Those adjustments have Watson as the leading candidate for NFL Rookie of the Year and accelerated his development. Additionally, the Texans have a high-powered offense.

"O’Brien has shifted his offense to play to Watson’s strengths and reduce the rookie’s adjustment time, adding option concepts out of the Clemson playbook to a scheme that employed the option just twice last season. The results have been laudable and revelatory. Watson’s abilities as a runner have opened up holes for Lamar Miller & Co. in a previously moribund rushing attack, while the threat of Watson as a runner has slowed down pass-rushers who might otherwise have zealously attacked a middling set of Texans tackles."

This is how the Bears need to treat Trubisky. Take some of his strengths and highlight them in the offense.

For example, Trubisky is a very good athlete. Let him roll out more than he has so far so he can buy some time or tuck the ball and run. Having him run seemed like a second thought for the Bears coaches. He couldn’t find anyone open and the middle of the line opened up. He took it 46 yards. Then they called a quarterback draw up the middle that gained only three yards. He needs to roll out. It helps the line, the receivers, and Trubisky.

Too many times, however, the coaches have Trubisky drop back and be a pocket passer. That takes away from his athletic ability. The Bears edge linemen have struggled at times this season. Moving away from that pressure is vital.

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Moving Trubisky out of the pocket doesn’t mean he’ll look only for the run. He’s a pass-first quarterback, and runs when he needs to run. That running ability takes pressure from Jordan Howard. At the moment, teams are focusing on the running back. If, though, Trubisky runs more (he has just 15 rushes), lanes open for him. This happened in Houston. Watson’s running helped Lamar Miller as Barnwell wrote.

What the Bears are doing now with Trubisky is a disservice to him. In order for him to do well, play up to his strengths. Continually handing the ball over doesn’t do anything. It even hurts Howard. On the other hand, just throwing a bunch of passes just for the sake of passing doesn’t help either. Let him make throws that are comfortable for him.

Yes, I know people keep talking about the wide receivers. No, they aren’t elite. However, give them a chance to make some plays. As we saw with Deonte Thompson on another team, they can make some plays. Depending on the running backs, though, hurts the receiving corps’ morale. Perhaps adding Dontrelle Inman helps after the bye week. Also, we hope the team makes another deal for another receiver.

Next: Chicago Bears: Possible trade, free agent WR pickups

At any rate, it’s still early for Trubisky. He’ll get better. Hopefully, as I’ve written before, the Bears replace Fox with someone who trusts Trubisky. However, it won’t be until OTAs during the offseason.