Mitchell Trubisky is drawing rave reviews after first minicamp
While it seems like the NFL world is in agreement that the Chicago Bears somehow made an unforgivable error by moving up one spot to draft quarterback Mitchell Trubisky, there doesn’t seem to be any buyer’s remorse from the Bears.
Trubisky was the story of the NFL draft after the Bears moved up from No. 3 to No. 2, giving up a couple third-round picks and a fourth, to take the North Carolina quarterback. That move has been mocked endlessly by most, though that criticism assumes Trubisky wasn’t worth the pick. We don’t know that yet.
The reviews from the Bears’ first minicamp were good. Most mentioned Trubisky’s plus arm strength and accuracy. Bears coach John Fox said Trubisky had a “great camp,” while reminding everyone he was just a few weeks into his pro career.
“You’ve got to get him up to speed in your offense,” Fox said. “A guy, regardless of position, has to get comfortable on what to do and how to do it, then cut loose and play.”
The thing about the Trubisky pick is nobody can rule out that general manager Ryan Pace was absolutely correct in his evaluation that he’s a future franchise quarterback. Pace isn’t on an island in his love for Trubisky. An NFL personnel director compared Trubisky to Aaron Rodgers. Everyone seemed to agree he was worth a top 10-12 pick, so it isn’t that far off to take him second. And CSN Chicago had a couple very interesting quotes from NFL scouts last week about Trubisky”
“Two AFC scouts revealed that they had the highest grade on Trubisky that they’d had on any quarterback over the past six years. That means: higher than Jameis Winston; higher than Marcus Mariota; higher than Cam Newton; higher than Russell Wilson; higher than Andrew Luck; higher than Derek Carr; higher than Carson Wentz.”
Wow. If that wasn’t enough …
“The evaluation of one NFC regional scouting team was that “Trubisky is an almost perfect quarterback prospect” and that ‘the Bears should count their lucky stars he only started 13 games because if he was a two-year starter, he goes 1/1 [overall No. 1] without hesitation.”
Wow again.
The fact is, if general manager Ryan Pace was right (and if these scouts who spoke to CSN Chicago are too) and Trubisky is that good, the price to get him is fine. In 1992, Green Bay Packers general manager Ron Wolf gave up a first-round pick for a 1991 second-round pick named Brett Favre, who was 0-for-5 in his rookie season. Had that happened in today’s environment, Wolf would have been excoriated for the deal in the moment. Nobody would tell you after seeing Favre’s career play out that Wolf overpaid. Nobody will care in a few years about those mid-round picks the Bears gave up for Trubisky if he’s as good as Pace believes. We’ll see.
It’s likely that Trubisky will need some time to develop, because he didn’t play much at North Carolina. That’s why it’s a good thing the Bears have Mike Glennon as a buffer, albeit an expensive one. The final verdict on Trubisky probably won’t come this year, and it certainly shouldn’t be made a few weeks after the draft.
The Bears’ belief in Trubisky will be a fascinating story line over the next few years. He’s off to a good start, at least.
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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
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