The Bears seem to be convinced Mitch is "the guy". I'm not there but trying to rationalize that thinking. He doesn't appear to be "the guy", he also doesn't appear to be "a guy", just "guy". Just trying to rationalize another piss poor performance. Here's where I differ in opinion from what is being talked about many contend it's his accuracy, and his inability to throw an intermediate to a long pass is spot fucking on. While this appears to be an accuracy thing I don't think so. I disagree I think it's his touch. I've seen him in camp and he can throw a rope at a barrel in those drills better than any QB the Bears ever had out there in camp, but those were stationary objects. His inability to put air under the ball on those long throws will be the death of his game. Okay, it's been established that it doesn't always go through his progressions, but missing open receivers is absolutely the worst. The only reason I'm considering the "touch" factor is that that's a learned experience and because, well fuck Lamarr Jackson in Baltimore is throwing lights out so far this season. His threat was always with his feet and couldn't throw shit before with the Ravens or in Louisville, but now somehow he seems to get it. Look I'm NOT making excuses for the kid I'm just trying to find something reasonable to cling to because I know he's not going anywhere and I enjoy my sanity. I will say this the Cardinals had no problem letting go of their highly drafted QB Josh Rosen #13 overall last year when they realized he wasn't "the guy". They didn't stop and end there as it appears the Bears have done with Mitch.
Mitch is not the guy. Problem is, the Bears have every single other thing in place for a Super Bowl run. And you know, minus a bad kicker, they did last year, too. If you're the Bears, and you end this season having wasted another year of one of the better rosters we've seen in the last few decades... How much longer do you expect that window to be open? Here's a genuine question to Bears fans: if another team is willing to give up an average to above average QB - say, a team like Detroit, who isn't going to compete, and has a QB with talent (not that I'm advocating for Stafford, but it fits the example) - do you give them the Cutler / Khlail Mack treatment, and give that team whatever draft capital is needed? I mention both those names, because we've seen very different results from two similarly blockbuster trades, and both offer perspective on this question. I think a guy like Stafford, just as an example, makes this team a Super Bowl contender. I don't think this team sniffs a Super Bowl with Trubisky. So, do you trade the draft capital for a guy who isn't a premier talent, but is better than Trubisky and is, hopefully, good enough? Edit: I recognize that the salary cap probably eliminates any possibility of something like this happening. But I'm sure there are low-priced candidates out there that you could at least bring in to compete. A team willing to give away a recent pick, say (Tuna aptly used the Rosen example). Trubisky isn't the guy - would it be worth at least trying to find someone who can be, and let them compete in-season?
Is he the guy? No. I’m full on pressing the panic button at this point, and it comes down to four things. 1. Handling pressure under big lights 2. As you point out his touch on certain passes 3. The inconsistency. He’s not trending up, he’s regressing if anything, and the up and down nature of his play doesn’t inspire confidence. Nagy took the ball out of his hands and even then he found a way to miss throws, either missing open guys or not leading them, etc. 4. Above the shoulders. He and Nagy keeping taking about simplifying the playbook over and over meaning he’s not getting it upstairs. This just updated. One completion beyond 10 yards. Look at that picture and despair: https://nextgenstats.nfl.com/charts/list/pass/chicago-bears/season/week I hope he proves me wrong, but I have no confidence left for a guy in his third year that should be turning the corner. He’s my QB and all that, not clamoring for the ultra shitty Daniel. But I’m wondering what we’ll be chatting about at the QB position in a year or two. The bears seem to be locked in that it’ll be extension talk. And it probably will regardless of how well he plays. Frustrating. I had a nice rant all queued up but that miracle win has me still in shock. He completed the wide open pass after stepping up when it mattered, so there’s that.
He had < 100 yards today until he slipped a well held pocket and hit a receiver on a broken play. I so want him to be the guy. Then I watch the guy who I wanted putting up 450 yards (300 after half time) and I realize we drafted a middle tier QB with a very low ceiling.
Remember when I said we should trade DOWN and pick up another early 1st round pick and DRAFT MAHOMES?
I sure fucking do. You said you might be crazy thinking that way. Oh well, shit happens. Scout that next guy that could be picked up that late and be a shining star. Because swinging at the position is how you land it.
I'd say Mitch has until week 10. I'll give his defenders the benefit of the doubt with early season jitters. But I'm about out of excuses. Its his 2nd year in the system, 3rd in the league--people kept saying to wait for this moment because its optimal Mitch, well--here we fucking are. The problem is if he sucks and becomes the mix of bad Rex and Blake Bortles we've all witnessed, do you reset by drafting a QB or signing one? Because money being thrown around right now at quarterbacks makes me cringe. Back ups are getting stupid money. Bad starters are getting 30+ million a year. Thanks, Kirk Cousins and Minnesota. If you draft one, you have 2 2nds, so you're either trading up into the late 1st for one or you're taking one in the 2nd round (preferably with a tight end with the other 2nd because that position is a sore spot). Either way, you aren't getting first crack at QB like you did Mitch. And as the field is shaping up in early season, Tua and Herbert are the top college QBs, Fromme 3rd. You aren't getting any of these 3 next April. IMO, the Stanford kid is 4th (there's plenty of time in the CFB season). KJ Costello is a statue, which doesn't work in Nagy's RPO system. The Colorado kid Montez has a pedestrian completion % throwing the ball 40 times a game. I have no idea why people are talking about Michigan's Shea Patterson, when Wisconsin's going to make him their bitch this Saturday. And Notre Dame's Ian Book looks standard Notre Dame quarterback--meh--which Georgia this weekend will fix when they show the world again why ND has no business among the best of the CFB teams.
I hear you - but the devil we know isn't going to get it done for us, so... the alternatives are at least unknown, even if not promising. I'm of the same mind as several here - keep picking a QB until you know you've got the guy. We have never confirmed that Mitch was the guy, and have now confirmed that he isn't (presuming no miraculous turnarounds).
I see the problem at the top here. Somewhere in those many draft meetings, someone spoke very highly of a guy from a relatively small school, played no-one and only played one year. And at no time in that process, did someone stand up and say look, this is a kid with a small sample size of games and didn't play lights out, let alone well against anyone of note. This is a reach for a first round pick and this is a pick nobody should be reaching on. Instead, Pace trying to be the smartest guy in the room/league is sold on a kid coming from the above. What makes this even worse than that, is that he then goes up and trades for him. I remember that day. I remember some song and dance about someone else was going to draft him. Oh well. Then let someone else draft him. There is a reason those teams at the beginning of the draft are always there. Many people said now that Pace has hitched his wagon to Trubisky. So, the media hype and the media blitz was on. Let's sell this kid to Chicago and no matter what, deflect the blame elsewhere. But when you have players on other teams saying to the media on T.V. the plan was to make him play QB and you can beat him; the league already knows. This kid isn't that good. That should be worrying every Bears fan because that is absolutely the last thing you want to hear. Now, we look at the trade for Cutler. At the time, it was a great trade. Statistically, the guy was awesome. But he wasn't highly competitive nor could he win the big games. What we have now can't do either. All he has is the hype in Chicago. How long will this last? And did Pace really hitch his wagon to him? Because if so, they should both be looking for a job soon. And don't get me started on Nagy.
I'm still not convinced Lamarr Jackson has shaken that inaccuracy stigma but two games into this season and he's dropping these balls in the pocket of the receiver. He was the last pick in the first in the 2018 draft. I was convinced he would not make an NFL QB after seeing him play in Louisville, and I'm still not convinced after only two games, but damn he looks like a solid two dimensional QB at the moment. Point is there is more risk when taking a QB that late and that selection will come with substantial baggage, but it will give us something to talk about no doubt.
Some how some way he's gotten worse ( and yes I know he was trending downward towards end of year ) it's hard to watch , overthrow ... underthrow ... whatever it's not good . Feels like the teams of the past , it's tough to get W's so take what you can get and try and oversee the deficiencies in the offense . Either Nagy doesn't trust him to throw it down field or Nagy is still convinced they can gimmick their way into a first . Never say never but he's a lonnnnnggggggg way from being the " Guy "
In a word, no, he is not the guy. The level of play is just way too low. And its not like he's even standing still, he's regressed to midseason rookie year Trubisky and it has been shocking. I do think what we've seen has been exacerbated by a chronic lack of support around him as well tho. O-Line play has been well below what I was expecting this season, that doesn't help. Nagy isn't putting him in position to succeed enough. When was Trubisky at his best as a thrower last year? When he was on the move. Where are the rollouts?! ARob is an underrated player but other than him who's getting the job done with any kind of consistency in that WR corps? Is Anthony Miller dead?? Cohen was on the field just over one third of snaps yesterday, barely more than Shaheen and Wims. Not enough. Get your best players on the field Nagy. Hint: Mike Davis isn't one of them. Does that add up to them making a SB with Trubisky? No, probably not. But with that D I still think they can get enough play out of him to win games, win the division, make the playoffs. IF everyone starts doing their damn jobs better. Is it a wing and a prayer? Starting to feel like one. But holy shit I am NOT ready to start talking future options at QB when its mid September 2019!
No one breaks down the front office like you man, well done. I remember that day. I remember some song and dance about someone else was going to draft him. Oh well. Then let someone else draft him. There is a reason those teams at the beginning of the draft are always there. What you've done here is hit on one of Pace's greatest flaws as a drafter. He has no ability to show patience. People say Pace is this uber decisive drafter making constant moves up for someone he likes. I see him constantly afraid of missing out on a player he likes which leads him to repeatedly overpay. There is no greater example of this than Trubisky, over whom the 49ers exploited this weakness in Pace to the max. Over the long term this will cripple Pace's efforts to roster build. Which is somewhat ironic given that in his opening presser and throughout that first year, he repeatedly spoke of building a stable franchise for the long term that was capable of competing for "multiple championships".
This is something I didn't consider, and you're right it would cripple this franchise if he continues to get a bug up his ass for certain prospects by not sitting still and climbing up the board.
I am not saying that Pace has been an expert at moving around in the draft but I also wouldn’t say he totally lacked patience. He moved down before getting Whitehair and he moved down to get Shaheen. One of the picks in the Shaheen move down was used to get Cohen. Taking, never mind trading up for Trubisky was indeed a huge fuck up. How much it cost the team is yet to be determined. But it doesn’t negate all the good moves he has made.
I know the thoughts of the Brett Favre's of the world exist in front offices. A guy from a small school that was traded for by Wolf with a first round pick. The mentality being, find a guy you believe in and go all in for him. I get it. But what some of these guys miss is the "common sense" test. What exactly are you sacrificing for "your guy"? In all honesty, the guy could have sacrificed even more picks and if Mitch would have ended up being a clone of Erin, we probably all would be fine with it. But the common sense here is that there just wasn't enough information on the kid. Not enough tape. And if your feeling that what he showed in every single game he played was someone worth going all in for, then something is wrong upstairs. At least as it concerns the QB position. The other possibility is that it is the organization. Why is it that QB's can progress in Baltimore, Houston, Kansas City (some only recently) and QB's in Chicago have done the opposite? Is it possible that some of these guys could have been better somewhere else? I know this is a receiver thing, but hear me out. Let's look at the WR position in the city. Minus a few guys that had stellar seasons, this is team where "receivers go and die". Remember that quote? Then, we trade for Brandon Marshall. A head case to be sure, but probably one of the best receivers to where the blue and orange in a long long time. Next thing you know, we have another receiver that is really good. Only that guy wanted out. (makes you wonder....) And now? We traded for Robinson. And he is probably the best on our roster again. On the flip side, let's talk about LB's. This city has had some of the best LB's to ever suit up for the NFL. It never seems to be a problem to find amazing LB talent. Sure, Mack and Trevathan were traded for, but Smith was drafted. My point is, maybe the lack of star talent in these positions has to be looked at as a factor in not having star talent coming up through the team. But to your point, patience has to be there when drafting these positions. We have patience just about everywhere else. Just not here.
