Chicago Bears: Mitchell Trubisky turns heads as he learns offense

As Chicago Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky accustoms himself to a new coaching staff and offense, his abilities are coming through and impressing many.

The Chicago Bears shocked the NFL world in 2017 when they gave up valuable draft picks to move up one spot to number two and select Mitch Trubisky. At the start of that offseason, the thought was the Bears needed to move on from Jay Cutler. Many figured they’d pick a quarterback in the draft.

When the Bears signed Mike Glennon to a big contract, that clouded the early thinking. General manager Ryan Pace and head coach John Fox told everyone Glennon was their guy. Quietly, however, Pace felt his actual guy was in the draft. He then made the move to guarantee he got him.

The move Pace made confused many. Why draft a guy that high when you already said you had your quarterback? Pace took a lot of heat for that move. Many said he got fleeced for giving up multiple picks just to move up one spot. Pace felt he had his man, though, and he gambled his job on it.

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The original plan was to sit Trubisky down for most, if not all, of his rookie season. Glennon struggled, however, and Trubisky had to come in after four games. Fox, who had an aversion to depend on rookies, completely scaled down the offense. Even though Trubisky showed signs of being able to play well, Fox didn’t want him to throw very much. The Bears ranked last in attempted passes and passing yards.

The Bears show Trubisky some love

This offseason, Pace and the Bears put in a plan to help Trubisky as much as possible. They fired Fox and the offensive coaches. They hired an offensive-minded coach in Matt Nagy. Also, they hired Mark Helfrich, the former head coach of the Oregon Ducks. He too is a coach who liked a high-powered offense.

In addition to that, the Bears revamped the receivers corps. The receivers in 2017 could not get separation from their defenders. Now, Trubisky has Allen Robinson, Taylor Gabriel, and Trey Burton. In the draft, they selected Anthony Miller in the second round.

The Bears also added to their offensive line to shore it up. James Daniels will play guard, allowing Cody Whitehair to stay at one position, center. Also, they picked up a pretty good kicker in Cody Parker. Parker broke former Bears kicker Kevin Butler‘s rookie record for points.

Add to that Jordan Howard, Tarik Cohen, Adam Shaheen, and the Bears can have a very good offense in the making. If Kevin White stays healthy, that makes them even more dangerous.

Now, this is Trubisky’s offense. Pace did his job of giving the young quarterback everything he needs to succeed. As I wrote before, it’s now Trubisky’s job to show he’s worth the effort.

So far, it seems he is doing so.

Pace sees a more confident and authoritative quarterback (via The Athletic):

"You can see him taking more of an authoritative approach. The way he commands the huddle, the way he talks to teammates, you can see him taking ownership. And it seems very comfortable and natural."

Having a coach who believes in him helps. Trubisky feels that love and it really helps him (per NBC Sports).

"That’s definitely why I love this offense and the coaches and how they’re handling this process. We’re really starting from ground bottom and we start each play with why; this is what it’s good against and if we don’t get this type defense then these are our options to go off that. They do a great job teaching it, and it’s not only me, all the other positions know the whys of the offense, so everybody will be on the same page."

Teammates impressed with Trubisky

Some of Trubisky’s teammates are impressed by what he’s done. Burton compares him to Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz. He said the two quarterbacks were “really similar with more similarities than opposites.”

While Miller is a rookie, he says Trubisky’s football IQ is impressive.

Trubisky even gets kudos from the defense. Second-year safety Eddie Jackson compares Trubisky to Drew Brees. That is a high compliment. Also, Prince Amukamara stated that having Trubisky was a big reason he re-signed with the Bears.

Compliments and good practices are nice, but wins are important

It’s nice to see all this positivity around the quarterback. Trubisky is the new face of the franchise and, at least for now, he is warm and fuzzy, words not said about Cutler. At the same time, he has to put up some wins. Winning is the reason all this is being done. A 14-34 record over the past three seasons significantly embarrassed the team. It’s time to reverse this losing trend and get back to being title contenders again.

Next: Danny Trevathan an important key to the 2018 defense

If the wins don’t come, the Bears go back to the drawing board. This time, however, we won’t see Pace or Trubisky around Halas Hall. Let’s stay positive, though. Hopefully the 2018 season ushers in a new era of winning.