Anybody who has followed the world of professional football for long enough has probably heard the name Leigh Steinberg. He was and remains one of the most respected sports agents in the business. A true master of his craft and the inspiration behind “Jerry Maguire.” One other thing he’s become known for? An uncanny eye for future stars at the quarterback position. So it was interesting to hear what he had to say regarding Mitch Trubisky.
Steinberg currently represents Kansas City Chiefs superstar Patrick Mahomes. Prior to that, he’s worked with Hall of Famers like Warren Moon, Steve Young, Troy Aikman, and Ben Roethlisberger. He’s also represented former Bears great Lance Briggs, so he has plenty of experience with the organization. He understands the entire situation with Mahomes and the instant success but told Adam Hoge of WGN that the Bears absolutely must stay the course with Trubisky.
Patience is the true key.
“They were interested and they scouted him very thoroughly,” Steinberg said. “But individual teams fall in love with individual players and that’s what it takes to get drafted high. And I think you have to give Trubisky a much longer period because what happens is, the more times a quarterback sees the field, the better he gets.
What happens today is they throw a young quarterback in (and) because of social media, fan reaction and the rest of it, he’s judged to be a bust very early. And it totally retards his development,” Steinberg said. “We have no patience. You gotta give Trubisky a chance to mature over time. The fact that Patrick is so successful or Lamar Jackson, that’s abnormal.”
Mitch Trubisky is dead in the eyes of many, but is he really?
Steinberg is speaking from a lot of experience when he says that. Several of his clients over the years weren’t even close to instant success stories. Young didn’t become a true star in the NFL until his seventh season. Aikman was average at best until his fourth. Remember Jake Plummer? It took him seven years to post a season passer rating higher than 79. The list of quarterbacks who became good after a considerable period of time versus those who broke out immediately is way longer.
Learning to play that position is really difficult and some guys take longer than others. Besides, Trubisky has shown enough flashes to warrant more time. In the past two seasons, he has 41 touchdown passes to 22 interceptions with 64.7 completion rate. That is good for an 88.7 passer rating. Elite? Not even close. Bad? No. There is no question he needs more work, but the Bears have reconstructed the coaching staff to help him along with additions like Bill Lazor and John DeFilippo. Guys with extensive backgrounds on the position.
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That combined with needed improvement on the offensive depth chart should lead to better results from the 25-year old. Steinberg believes Trubisky can still reach a high level in the NFL. Will the Bears follow that advice? We’ll find out.
