Mitch Trubisky is catching some flak for his play of late. The Chicago Bears rookie certainly isn’t having a year similar to what Dak Prescott had last season. Then again Prescott isn’t having a year he had last season, but moving on. Truth be told Trubisky has been average. Not terrible. Not good. Just average. His completion percentage is barely above 54% and he’s thrown for over 200 yards in just one of his eights starts this year.
Some people have already begun to presume he’s a bust. A normal reaction for modern NFL fans when a team isn’t winning. The fact is Trubisky has learning still to do but not nearly all of his problems on the stat sheet are on him. Recently Pro Football Focus broke out an interesting stat. It centers around passes thrown by quarterbacks that were deemed “catchable.”
It was then broken down even further to passes thrown for a clean pocket and then seeing how accurate certain quarterback are in those situations. Bears fans might be surprised by the result.
Mitch Trubisky always puts it close enough when he has time
QBs from a clean pocket, % of aimed passes deemed catchable:#Skol Case Keenum 100%#DaBears Mitchell Trubisky 100%#OnePride Matthew Stafford 95.5%
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.#Browns DeShone Kizer 65.2%#GoBills Nathan Peterman 60%#DallasCowboys Dak Prescott 53.3%— John Kosko (@PFF_JohnKosko) December 6, 2017
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Only Trubisky and Vikings QB Case Keenum have a perfect accuracy rate when they’re able to throw from clean pockets. So why is Keenum having a career year (2,703 yards, 16 TDs, 4 INTs) while Trubisky is struggling so much. There are certain variables in play but in the end it comes down to the supporting casts.
Keenum has been sacked a total of nine times in 10 starts this season. Trubisky has been sacked 21 times in eight starts. Keenum enjoys the luxury of throwing to receivers like Stefon Diggs and Adam Thielen, both of whom seem destined for the Pro Bowl. Trubisky is trying to make it work with castoffs like Kendall Wright and Dontrelle Inman. That’s asking too much.
Yet the proof is there. Whenever Trubisky has gotten the pocket and his receivers actually get open, he makes the throw.
This reinforces the running theme since he became starter. The Bears badly need to upgrade their offensive roster in 2018. It starts with the receiving corps and the offensive line will likely need some attention too. Especially given the injury situation for Kyle Long and iffy effectiveness of their offensive tackles.
There’s also the pesky situation regarding head coach John Fox and his painfully inadequate staff. They too need replacing. Suffice to say GM Ryan Pace has lots of work to do before he can show the football world he was right about Trubisky.
