The Chicago Bears roster is absolutely loaded at almost every position, except the most valuable one. When is it time to move on from Mitchell Trubisky?
The Chicago Bears front office has done one of the best jobs in the NFL building their roster. Along with building a top-10 offensive line, the additions of Allen Robinson and Taylor Gabriel in recent years has strengthened the receiving corps. The Bears’ real strength, however, is on defense.
Already having constructed a strong defensive line, Chicago made a strong play just prior to the 2018 season, trading for Khalil Mack, perhaps the best pass-rusher in the NFL. The Bears secondary can’t be taken lightly either with Eddie Jackson at safety and Kendall Fuller at cornerback.
After losing cornerback Bryce Callahan and safety Adrian Amos in free agency, in addition to former defensive coordinator Vic Fangio being poached by the Broncos, I believed the Bears would regress defensively in 2019. Through two weeks, however, that has not been the case. They look as strong as ever.
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With all of these great pieces on both sides of the ball, the Bears should be an unquestioned contender, a team heavily in Super Bowl consideration. However, one piece of the roster is holding them back right now.
In the 2017 NFL Draft, Chicago general manager Ryan Pace traded up one spot to select quarterback Mitchell Trubisky with the No. 2 pick. In the one season, that Trubisky started in college at North Carolina, he put up 3,748 yards, 30 touchdowns and six interceptions. Those were good stats but with just one season starting, people questioned him being the second overall pick then.
Now in his third NFL season, Trubisky hasn’t proven the doubters wrong. The concerns about his arm and decision-making as a leader remain. Week 1 against Green Bay was supposed to be his coming-out party, showcasing his progression under head coach Matt Nagy. But that wasn’t the case. In fact, it was the opposite.
Trubisky finished with 228 yards and one interception, which isn’t horrible. However, it could have been three interceptions on the day if not for drops by the Packers secondary. To worsen the situation, Week 2 against the Broncos wasn’t much better for Trubisky. He finished with 120 yards no scores and no interceptions.
The excuses are running out for Trubisky. He’s no longer a rookie in this league — he’s a third-year quarterback in his second year under Nagy’s watch. Yet he’s still making rookie mistakes and, even worse, not learning and growing from them.
With the Bears potential throughout the rest of the roster, the mediocre-at-best play of Mitchell Trubisky is currently holding them back. And if they are serious about making a run at a Super Bowl with this team, they may need to move on at quarterback sooner rather than later.