If you’re a Chicago Bears fan, you watched it live in Week 3 when Matt Nagy executed the Benching Heard ‘Round The World in Atlanta.
After an egregious interception in the third quarter resulted in a 26-10 deficit, Nagy pulled the plug on the Mitch Trubisky experiment and inserted legendary backup QB Nick Foles into the game. Foles helped the Bears reel off 20 unanswered points (it should’ve been 34!) in 1.5 quarters to stun the Falcons and leave Mercedes-Benz Stadium with a 3-0 record.
This week, Nagy announced Foles would be the starting quarterback moving forward, relegating Trubisky to the bench and all but sealing his exit from Chicago this offseason.
But can Trubisky still help the Bears if he’s not the starting QB?
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Legendary Bears defensive lineman Dan Hampton thinks so, and even has a role lined up for Trubisky. On the Hamp, O’B, and Koz podcast, Hampton said:
The Bears would be smart, [if] they possibly could put together — like that kid down in new orleans, you know, the read-option and that whole package? Taysom HIll? You know, bring him [trubisky] in and do some different things with him.
I get where Hampton is coming from, and it’s not a bad thought. In fact, I brought up something similar a couple weeks ago — of course, this was back when Trubisky was still the starter (and Tarik Cohen hadn’t been lost for the season):
What if the Bears ran Wildcat with Tarik Cohen and threw bubble screens to Mitch? He's great with the ball in his hands, he can protect himself by sliding, and I'm sure defenses would sell out to stop the run in those situations anyway.
I think it's crazy enough to work.
— Dhruv Koul (@DhruvKoul) September 23, 2020
Here’s the logic, in general, to add Trubisky as a runner/receiver: First, Trubisky is one of the most athletic QBs in the game — he gashed defenses repeatedly in 2018 by using his legs. He got away from it in 2019, but started to incorporate some of it again in 2020. That’s the one trait of his that opposing defenses feared the most.
Second, it would add an entirely different element to the playbook and give Nagy a number of options to keep defenses off-balance and, frankly, give them more to plan for. Nagy ran some plays last year with Trubisky and Chase Daniel on the field together, and now he has a better combination of QBs.
Imagine this — Trubisky runs across the formation on a jet-sweep (from left to right) and gets the ball from Foles. The opportunities are endless, especially because Trubisky can actually throw running to his right! Run for yardage? Great! Throw the ball (accurately) to an open receiver on a crossing route or dig? Awesome!
Definitely something to think about… right?
The reality is, Trubisky is too valuable as a backup QB right now
While the idea and possibilities are extremely fun and interesting, the reality is the Bears need Trubisky to stay healthy too much to risk him getting hurt while playing other roles.
First, Nick Foles has never started a full 16-game season. And while he’d only have to start 13 regular-season games in 2020, it’s still more than he’s ever started before. He’s an injury risk, so the Bears may have to count on Trubisky later in the season.
Second, Taysom Hill plays a specific role for the New Orleans Saints, but they *can* afford to deploy him that way because he’s not their primary backup QB. Last year, the Saints had Teddy Bridgewater. This year, they have Jameis Winston. The situations for the Bears and Saints are not the same.
So Chicago will have to count on the playmakers they do have — not including Trubisky — until the situation calls his number again. If the Bears are lucky, Foles grabs the starting job, runs with it, and stays healthy. That’s the best possible outcome for 2020.
