Chicago Bears: 3 reasons to extend Mitch Trubisky

The Chicago Bears have not had a franchise quarterback since the 1980’s.

Say what you want about Jay Cutler, but the Chicago Bears have not had a true franchise quarterback since Jim McMahon. The team had a 51-51 record with Jay Cutler starting as the quarterback. Despite him being here for eight years, that kind of record and his inconsistency is not what I think of when I think of a franchise quarterback.

Keep in mind Cutler already had three years of experience prior to joining the Bears. Trubisky looked like a rookie in 2017, but he also played under some incompetent coaching. Many pegged him to make a huge leap in year two under Matt Nagy, similar to the Rams quarterback Jared Goff under Sean McVay.

Let’s look at their second year passing grids (via NextGenStats). Both quarterbacks were playing under their respective first-year head coaches. The grid shows their quarterback rating compared to the league average where passes were thrown on the field. Trubisky was better than Goff everywhere on the field between the line of scrimmage and 20 yards, except up the middle.

There’s no doubt that Trubisky’s deep ball needs a bit of work, but with proper coaching, I am confident that he can find the touch needed to become an efficient deep ball passer. You could start to see him make some of those passes later in the season, especially in San Francisco on the play that Allen Robinson injured his ribs and several throws on the lone touchdown drive in the playoff game as well.

Did the Bears defense win some games for the Bears last year? Sure, but Trubisky made some throws only franchise quarterbacks can make last season. Not to mention, he put up three consecutive games with over 300 yards passing against the Buccaneers, Dolphins, and Patriots. Fans also have to be encouraged by what they saw in the playoff game. Trubisky completed 26-of-43 passes for 303 yards and a touchdown.

The team has surrounded him with the necessary weapons and put him in an offensive scheme to succeed. He has shown what can is capable in year one of this offense and only figures to get better. The combination of his arm and his legs are exactly what the Bears need for a franchise quarterback that they can rely on for the next decade.