Can Mitch Trubisky force Chicago Bears into a quarterback competition?
Can Chicago Bears rookie quarterback Mitch Trubisky play well enough to force a quarterback competition? His performance on Thursday was a good start.
The Chicago Bears have been very clear, Mike Glennon is their starting quarterback for the 2017 season. Mitch Trubisky is undoubtedly the future at the position for the team, but they have told us time and time again that Glennon is the guy for 2017.
As much as I like Trubisky and do not believe in Glennon, I do not hate the Bears going this route. Trubisky is incredibly talented, but he only started 13 games in college. Plus, he played in an offense that was exclusively out of the shotgun. His upside is incredible but it is fair to expect him to need some time before being NFL ready.
That being said, he sure looked ready to compete on Thursday night.
In the Bears’ preseason opener against the Denver Broncos, Trubisky completed 72% of his passes for 166 yards and a touchdown. He finished the game with an impressive 103.1 passer rating. Trubisky did not turn the ball over once, led the Bears on their only three scoring drives and looked extremely poised on the field.
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Trubisky showed off his incredible throwing arm, pinpoint accuracy and impressive mobility. He escaped pressure like a 10-year vet and always seemed to hit his mark with his passes. Mitch Trubisky’s on-field debut with the Chicago Bears went about as well as anybody could have possibly expected.
On the other hand….
Glennon was absolutely awful on Thursday night. The Bears’ starting quarterback threw a pick-six on his second pass of the game and finished the night 2/8 for 20 yards and that interception. His passer rating was 0.0.
Glennon led the Bears’ offense on four drives. They ended in a pick six, three and out, a fumble on the third play and a punt after a decent drive. Glennon and the Bears’ first team offense could not get anything going. He does not deserve all of the blame, but Glennon certainly did not impress in his debut with the team.
Possible competition?
The Bears have been adamant that Glennon is their starting quarterback for 2017. Head coach John Fox even backed that up after the game, according to Jeff Dickerson of ESPN.
"“Our depth chart is not going to change after one game,” Fox said. “That’s a really good defense our first unit went against, probably one of the top three defenses in the league. You have to look at a lot of different things. I can understand how you guys might think [we could make a change], but we’re not going to change a whole lot after one game.”"
So for now, nothing is going to change. Mike Glennon is still the starting quarterback for the Chicago Bears. However, what if this continues?
It Mitch Trubisky continues to come out and dominate, while Glennon falls flat on his face, the Bears cannot simply ignore the possibility of starting the rookie. Based on his lack of experience, I understand the idea of sitting Trubisky this season, but if he continues to play like this, what more could they possibly want?
Glennon has never been impressive to me. I think he is a decent backup NFL quarterback and nothing more. However, Mitch Trubisky clearly has a starting NFL quarterback skill set and he put it on display on Thursday night. He will likely still have some growing pains, but not even considering him as a possible starting option would be foolish.
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Even if they do so quietly, the Chicago Bears need to keep this quarterback competition open. If Glennon is the leader, fine, but they simply cannot ignore how much better Mitch Trubisky was on Thursday night. Give the kid a chance if he exceeds expectations and proves that he deserves it.