Chicago Bears: 5 Offensive X-factors for second half of 2017 season
1. Mitchell Trubisky, QB
The Bears spent a great deal of capital to draft Mitchell Trubisky. Pace risked the ire of the fans and becoming a joke around the league. Giving away much-needed draft picks to move up one spot and draft a player with just one season as a starter under his belt? That took guts.
Much like Shaheen, the Bears planned to give Trubisky a redshirt season. However, Mike Glennon kept giving the ball to the other team so the coaches needed to insert Trubisky in sooner than anticipated.
Just because they put him in didn’t mean they felt comfortable with him. The coaching staff runs a pedestrian offense, having Trubisky mostly just hand the ball over to the running backs. He’s shown flashes of talent, though. His ability to throw downfield off his back foot, to throw accurately on the run, and to use his legs to get away from defenders have all shone through to this point
It’s time to let Trubisky showcase his talents more. Have him throw more passes. Tailor the offense to his strengths, not just what the coaches think will win a couple of games. Even with the limited offense, the Bears seem different with Trubisky on the field. He has the charisma to have the other players follow him. He exudes confidence, no matter what happens.
As I mentioned, the second half of the season is much easier than the first half. Now is the time to have Trubisky play. I’m not saying he should throw 40-50 passes a game, but 15-20 is too low.
Some look at the line and say having Trubisky pass will kill him. I beg to differ. How can a line consistently pass block is the unit doesn’t get a consistent number of plays? The more passes, the better the line gets. That’s the thinking. Now, if it doesn’t happen, then change things up. Howard had a couple of games early on where he couldn’t get holes to run through. The line got better, however, and he now ranks fifth in the league in rushing (third before the bye).
Next: Grading the Bears' 2017 first half
It’s time to see what kind of car we just got. Do we have a fine-tuned Ferrari, or do we have a Yugo? Let’s find out for sure sooner rather than later.