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What if Mitch is not the guy?


WindyCity

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Then they blow it all up again and retry in two years with a new GM and staff. Really though, we might not know the answer to this question for a while.

It's evident that Trubisky is still pretty raw compared to the majority of his young QB peers.  That was always going to be the case with just 13 college starts in run and gun type offense and 12 starts in an archaic run first offense under Fox.  That he's not yet hitting his stride and living up to his full potential at this point shouldn't really be a surprise to anyone.

The biggest thing with Mitch going forward will be learning how to read defenses and going through his progressions better.  Right now he's still learning the nuances of the position, the offensive play book and his supporting cast.  Nagy was brought in here to develop and mold Mitch into a high quality NFL QB. These things don't just happen over night.

The encouraging thing for me that  I see in him is that in addition to having good intangible and leadership traits, he has the arm talent, mobility and athleticism, which are all things you cannot teach.  The other stuff he will get with time and more game experience if he's smart enough, which it appears he is.

As much as people don't want to hear this or have to wait much longer to see high end results, patience is needed here folks.  To me this is still a developmental year, and if all goes well then Bears will be more of a contender heading into 2019.  

Let's not be like the 49ers fans who gave up on Alex Smith so early.

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1 hour ago, topwop1 said:

Then they blow it all up again and retry in two years with a new GM and staff. Really though, we might not know the answer to this question for a while.

It's evident that Trubisky is still pretty raw compared to the majority of his young QB peers.  That was always going to be the case with just 13 college starts in run and gun type offense and 12 starts in an archaic run first offense under Fox.  That he's not yet hitting his stride and living up to his full potential at this point shouldn't really be a surprise to anyone.

The biggest thing with Mitch going forward will be learning how to read defenses and going through his progressions better.  Right now he's still learning the nuances of the position, the offensive play book and his supporting cast.  Nagy was brought in here to develop and mold Mitch into a high quality NFL QB. These things don't just happen over night.

The encouraging thing for me that  I see in him is that in addition to having good intangible and leadership traits, he has the arm talent, mobility and athleticism, which are all things you cannot teach.  The other stuff he will get with time and more game experience if he's smart enough, which it appears he is.

As much as people don't want to hear this or have to wait much longer to see high end results, patience is needed here folks.  To me this is still a developmental year, and if all goes well then Bears will be more of a contender heading into 2019.  

Let's not be like the 49ers fans who gave up on Alex Smith so early.

Looking back at the 49ers decision, it was a pretty bad decision. Alex kept maturing and getting better with coaching and weapons. I'm shocked to say he is actually a very solid QB as he has developed over the years. I believe he was a 2nd year QB coming out of Utah and he needed a lot of development. 

Mitch is in the same boat, Nagy's main job is to get the best out of him. If he can't do it, we obviously blow it up. The good thing is this isn't a talent issue, this is a hard work and learn issue. Mitch needs to put the time and effort in to be better. Last year the Tribune asked Big Ben his thoughts on rookie QB development and I'm paraphrasing here-" people want to look at year 1 or year 2 but really you learn this position in 3+, people need to judge QBs on longer timelines."

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I have been taking a certain catharsis in (literally) crying doom.   The knock on Mitch was always that he was inexperienced and he looked unsteady on Sunday. The big concerns are accuracy, pocket presence and decision making, which are all pretty big deals.  To answer each concern in turn, he was known for being accurate in college, so perhaps we can chalk the issues up to footwork and being rattled.  Pocket presence, I suppose he can learn;  perhaps we're just still scarred from Jay Cutler who (aside from that weird Gase bit) never really changed any of his issues.  Decision making is one that obviously improves with time.  Thinking it through and putting it in context certainly makes Sunday's game easier to swallow.

My worries about Mitch would go away if he were to have some sort of signature game, or show more than flashes

 

We all loved Pace's all-in approach this offseason, or at least I did, but the obvious risk was always if Mitch isn't good, it's all for nothing and we have to wait a LONG time before a rebuild could start.  No first round picks for a couple years is going to hurt, as will a team that would probably be at least average even with iffy quarter back play.  So... let's hope he's good!

 

We all KNOW that Trubisky needed patience, and this is essentially year one, and Nagy needs patience, but man it's going to be hard. 

 

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I think you have to give him 2018-19, with the expectation that he shows steady progress.

I think time and experience are what are needed, but with that will come some painful moments. Like teaching you kid to ride a bike, there are falls and tears before it works.

Having to start over from Mitch would be the nuclear winter for the Bears. 

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With Pace having traded this team's next two 1st round picks for Mack it is safe to assume that Mitch will be given at least this season along with 2019 to figure it out before they're faced with decision of having to exercise Mitch's 5th year option.  So we should have a pretty good idea by the end of 2019, which I think is fair.  

No reason for anybody to start panicking after 1 game, which in my opinion wasn't even close to bad.

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I honestly don't think his performance was anything like bad enough to suggest he might not be the guy...he missed some throws sure...he felt pressure a little too much as times...but first game in a new scheme with a new HC and play caller...I saw enough really good throws and decision to suggest the more comfortable he gets in this scheme the better he will get...I have no concerns at this point...the tools are all there.

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If Trubisky isn't the guy, it likely means that Pace and Nagy are goners.

For what it's worth... in Alex Smith's first game in this offense he produced:

21/34 (61.8%) 173 YDS for 5.1 YPA (2 TDs)

 

I'm willing to give him this season to see if he progresses as he gets more comfortable in this offense. Really tough to call him a bust because he got rattled at the end of the game.

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This is kind of an easy conversation, the team just blows up. A QB bust is like one of those things where you basically have to rebuild. There will be a couple of holdovers on defense but its kind of just a failed project.

Honestly look at the Lions. Its clear Stafford isnt the guy, they had CJ and made a decent run at respectability but thats it. If Trubisky isnt the guy just look at the Lions and we will have a similar trajectory.

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Some damning stuff from Michael Lombardi... but take it for what it's worth because he also said Doug Pederson had no right being a head coach:

What was not evident to the fans was that Bears coach Matt Nagy was doing his best job of protecting Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky from hurting his team. In the first half, Nagy gave Trubisky every easy quick throw he could design and made the game simple for his young quarterback. Trubisky, at this point in his career, cannot read out the progression. He does not play quick-minded football, which means he is not able to read the coverage to know where he has to throw the ball. Nagy, by design of his offense, cuts the defense in half, with play action or movement that allows Trubisky to see the target. And in the first half, Trubisky threw for 109 yards on 14 attempts, averaging 7.78 per attempt. But in the second half, Green Bay’s defense adjusted, Nagy ran out of his “help the quarterback throws” and the Bears’ offense struggled mightily to make plays in the passing game.



Trubisky is a talented athlete — the operative word here is “athlete.” He is more of an athlete than he is a quarterback. He can move and run and shows arm talent. However, there’s a reason Trubisky only started 13 games throughout his college career at North Carolina, and it was evident Sunday night. Unless the coach can scheme the passing game, Trubisky will struggle. Trubisky requires high low reads; he needs to see a receiver open because he is not an instinctive player. Which then means he needs to be programmed on where to throw the ball. Nagy has to script practices to make sure Trubisky knows what to expect regarding coverages and where he must throw the ball. This can become hard to accomplish each week. The longer the game goes, with all the adjustments, the less practice reps can help, which is why he struggled in the second half to make any down the field throws. He was spraying the ball all over, completing just 12 passes in 21 attempts for 71 yards, averaging 2.95 per attempt. The Packers were able to sack him four times in the second half, not because their pass rush was dominating, but because Trubisky was unsure of where to throw the ball once his first option wasn’t open. Once the game started moving fast, and Nagy ran out of plays, the Trubisky of this season looked like the Trubisky from last year.

I was confused this summer about why Nagy chose not to play Trubisky during the preseason when he needs all the live game repetitions he can get. But now I know. Nagy was protecting Trubisky; he was making sure that heading into the season, other teams would not get a view of his limitations. Nagy knows Trubisky is a work in progress. And because he knows this, he must take the ball out of Trubisky’s hands in key situations. Calling a pass play on third-and-one with under three minutes remaining on the Packers’ 14 yard line was a mistake. And I’m sure right after making the call, Nagy regretted not running Jordan Howard one more time.

Bears fans had to endure that incredibly tough loss Sunday night. But more than just coping with that first loss of the season, they have to hope that what we saw from Trubisky was merely a bump in the road. Bears fans have to hope, maybe even pray, that Trubisky will improve, that he will be able to play quick-minded and not lose his accuracy at critical parts of the game like he did against the Packers when he was 5-for-11 in the fourth quarter for 36 yards. I have my doubts.

Everything the Bears have done so far to prepare their team for a Super Bowl run revolves around Trubisky’s ability to play at the highest level, and Nagy has his work cut out for him as a result. As opposing defensive coaches get a good look at the Bears’ offense and understand the “how and why” of what Nagy is creating for Trubisky, then all the easy throws we saw in the first quarter will get harder and harder to design.

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From an outside perspective it looks like he really struggles with pocket presence. He is way too quick to leave the pocket or gets happy feet in the pocket and that in turn throws his accuracy out the window. Even worse, when he leaves the pocket his eyes go down. A more experience defense like the Vikings will have a spy on him and he won't be getting the gains on the ground he got against the Packers.  

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10 hours ago, G08 said:

I was confused this summer about why Nagy chose not to play Trubisky during the preseason when he needs all the live game repetitions he can get. But now I know. Nagy was protecting Trubisky; he was making sure that heading into the season, other teams would not get a view of his limitations. Nagy knows Trubisky is a work in progress. And because he knows this, he must take the ball out of Trubisky’s hands in key situations. Calling a pass play on third-and-one with under three minutes remaining on the Packers’ 14 yard line was a mistake. And I’m sure right after making the call, Nagy regretted not running Jordan Howard one more time.

This is all BS and frankly doesn't make any sense. If Nagy was worried about the league finding out Trubisky was limited, why would not playing him in the preseason matter? Does Lombardi think the NFL looks at film of the preseason? He must think Seattle is sitting in a film room right now like, "crap, we have no idea what Trubisky is like as a player because we have no preseason film on him, how will we ever be able to scout him?" Secondly, if Nagy thought that Trubisky really was limited, why would he have him throw the ball so much, especially with the success of our run game and the game situation? Both Howard and Cohen averaged over 5+ yards per carry Sunday night, yet Lombardi's reasoning is "Trubisky is limited, so Nagy put the ball in his hands instead of relying on a clearly superior running game."

Honestly, just bad journalism and is clearly click bait. 

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50 minutes ago, HuskieBear said:

This is all BS and frankly doesn't make any sense. If Nagy was worried about the league finding out Trubisky was limited, why would not playing him in the preseason matter? Does Lombardi think the NFL looks at film of the preseason? He must think Seattle is sitting in a film room right now like, "crap, we have no idea what Trubisky is like as a player because we have no preseason film on him, how will we ever be able to scout him?" Secondly, if Nagy thought that Trubisky really was limited, why would he have him throw the ball so much, especially with the success of our run game and the game situation? Both Howard and Cohen averaged over 5+ yards per carry Sunday night, yet Lombardi's reasoning is "Trubisky is limited, so Nagy put the ball in his hands instead of relying on a clearly superior running game."

Honestly, just bad journalism and is clearly click bait. 

You mean we shouldn’t trust the guy who’s last 7 first round picks were Robert Gallery, Fabian Washington, Michael Huff, Jamarcus Russell, Barkevious Mingo, Johnny Manziel and Justin Gilbert?

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