Two things worry me about Mitchell Trubisky, and neither of them is his low number of NCAA starts. He faced lots of big-time competition in his 13 starts and made plenty of NFL throws. That’s not a huge issue.
Trubisky tends to linger in the pocket when backed up against his own end zone, as he waits for a perfect play when he should be speeding up his process. Trubisky threw to a receiver in his own end zone for a safety once and engages in other dangerous tomfoolery when he should just get rid of the darn ball.
Trubisky also likes to try to escape a clean pocket via the back door, dropping extra far back and looping around his right tackle and the pass-rusher he’s blocking. There have been about 10 quarterbacks in NFL history who could execute this maneuver successfully, and even they all have some 40-sack seasons on their ledgers.
Trubisky’s mistakes are Geno Smith tendencies, which should set off some warnings. More experience should minimize them, but they underscore the fact that Trubisky isn’t some ultra-dependable pocket passer. He’s an athletic playmaker with limited experience like Newton or Tannehill, two quarterbacks who neatly define the range of possibilities for Trubisky.
The Bears had a chance to take their pick of instant-impact defensive players. They selected a developmental quarterback, despite a weak receiving corps. By the time Trubisky develops, if he develops, the men who drafted him may be gone.
Unless his development becomes an excuse to ask for an extra year after another weak 2017 season for the Bears.
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