Since he was drafted by the Chicago Bears in 2017, quarterback Mitchell Trubisky has been under a national microscope, as football fans and experts try to determine whether he will actually be the franchise quarterback that the team has so desperately needed.
This season has been a strong one for Trubisky, as he’s helped lead the Bears to a 6-3 record and has them in position to potentially reach the playoffs for the first time since 2011.
Despite that, some experts and fans still believe that Trubisky has underachieved in his NFL career, and that he hasn’t’ been worth the hype.
In order to illustrate just how good Trubisky has been in his second season (and in his first under head coach Matt Nagy), here is a blind test:
Quarterback A: 172-for-281 (61.2 percent), 2,385 yards, 16 TD, 4 INT, 101.5 rating
Quarterback B: 190-for-290 (65.5 percent), 2,304 yards, 19 TD, 7 INT, 101.6 rating
Quarterback C: 176-for-291 (60.5 percent), 2,262 yards, 23 TD, 5 INT, 104.1 rating
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Those numbers are all incredibly similar, and they should give Bears fans a boost in confidence. Quarterback A is Los Angeles Rams quarterback Jared Goff, and reflect his stats through the first nine games he played under head coach Sean McVay during the 2017 season.
Quarterback B is Trubisky, who threw for 355 yards and three touchdowns in his last game for the Bears, and was named NFC Offensive Player of the Week.
Finally, Quarterback C is Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz, who had a strong start through the first nine games of the 2017 season in his second NFL season.
Judging by the company and circumstances that Trubisky shares with the other two quarterbacks in this exercise, he is having a strong sophomore season under Nagy, and as some tough tests come up against the Minnesota Vikings in Week 11 and the Rams in Week 14, it will be fascinating to see whether that progress translates into strong performances against good teams.
In terms of quarterbacks taken in the same draft class as Trubisky, Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes is obviously outpacing him in his rookie season, throwing for 3,434 yards and 31 touchdowns in his first 11 career games.
Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson is more in line with Trubisky’s numbers, completing 64.9 percent of his passes for 17 touchdowns and seven interceptions in his sophomore campaign.
