The Chicago Bears, after trading up to the second spot in the draft, have selected Mitchell Trubisky, a quarterback out of the University of North Carolina.
The Chicago Bears' first-round draft pick landed in Chicago Friday and it appears he quickly scooped up some newspapers with front pages about his selection.
The team tweeted just before 11:30 a.m. that Mitchell Trubisky had arrived in the city. The tweet was paired with a photo of the quarterback holding newspapers plastered with his photo.
"Future Shocker" the front page of the Chicago Sun-Times read.
The Chicago Bears drafted their latest quarterback of the future in a stunning move Thursday night, grabbing North Carolina's Trubisky with the No. 2 overall pick after trading up a spot with the San Francisco 49ers and surrendering three draft choices to do it.
"I’m glad they came up and got me at No. 2," he said. "I think it shows that they believe in me. And I believe in what Ryan Pace and Coach Fox are doing in Chicago, and I can't wait to be a part of it."
Trubisky echoed that sentiment in a series of tweets reacting to being picked by the team: [[420715383, C]]
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"Wow! Can't wait to give everything I have to the @ChicagoBears." one message read.
There was some thought the Bears might wait a round or two before taking a quarterback after signing Mike Glennon last month to replace the departed Jay Cutler. That couldn't have been more wrong.
The price for Trubisky was high, with San Francisco getting the Bears' No. 3 pick, a third- and fourth-round choice this year plus a third-rounder next year. It was a surprising move, particularly since San Francisco general manager John Lynch was ready to take Stanford defensive lineman Solomon Thomas at No. 2 anyway.
"Kudos to the Bears," Lynch said. "I give Ryan Pace and John Fox credit for making a courageous move and we're thrilled with what we got out of it.
Pace said he couldn't afford to wait even one pick. Teams looking for a quarterback were calling him about the third overall choice so he knew they were also looking to move into the No. 2 spot. Lynch confirmed the 49ers had other offers.
"I didn't want to sit on our hands and have some team jump us or have it not work out," Pace said. "When we were this close, within reach of a player that was all really valued, I didn't want to sit on our hands and risk not getting that player."
The 6-foot-2, 222-pound Trubisky said had little contact with the Bears leading up to the draft. The Bears did see him at the combine and at his pro day.
Trubisky made just 13 college starts, all in a breakout junior season last year. He set the single-season the school's single-season record for yards passing (3,748), touchdowns (30) and total offense (4,056) in 2016. He ranked fifth in the country with a 68.0 completion percentage while throwing just six interceptions. He also ran for five touchdowns last season, after backing up quarterback Marquise Williams as a freshman and sophomore.
The Bears finished last in the NFC North at 3-13 in their second season under Pace and coach John Fox. Years of shoddy drafting combined with a long list of injuries exposed a glaring lack of depth. It all added up to Chicago's lowest win total since the 1973 team went 3-11, the most losses since a 1-13 finish in 1969 and a busy offseason for a rebuilding team.
