Will the Chicago Bears bench Mitch Trubisky? No. They’ve made that clear enough. They have no plans to replace him. Not unless an unlikely scenario where someone clearly superior becomes a possibility. Instead, their best course of action, presuming this is the way they’re thinking, is to bring in some sort of competition for the 25-year old quarterback. Somebody who can serve as motivation for him to play better but also be quality insurance in case Trubisky fails to answer the bell. Among the list of names that have come up in the past month, one of the most persistent is Marcus Mariota.
There are reasons for this.
It starts with the fact he’s guaranteed to be available what with the Tennessee Titans looking to keep his replacement Ryan Tannehill long-term. Mariota is only 26-years old and flashed plenty of upside in his 61 games as a starter. He’s athletic with a good arm and doesn’t have any off-the-field issues. Then there is the well-known fact Bears GM Ryan Pace had a lot of interest in him back in 2015.
Last but not least, Mariota would view the Bears job as one he’d have a better chance than most to win given Trubisky’s issues. That might be why an expert panel from NFL.com views the team as his most logical fit.
“Look, if Mariota is really set on getting right back in the saddle as a starter, the best team for him would be the Chicago Bears, whose incumbent QB Mitchell Trubisky — another former No. 2 overall pick — is heading down a Mariota-like path in a hurry.
If the Bears really are committed to Mitch as the starter — and that is their story for now — they could take a flier on Mariota (backup Chase Daniel is a free agent) and hope he can pull a Tanny on Trubisky if the young passer gives them no choice but to give someone else a shot before it’s too late in 2020.”
Marcus Mariota was good once, but can he be again?
A lot of people have it in their heads these days that Mariota was never a good quarterback. That he’s an outright bust. Sure, how things ended in Tennessee for him were largely because he couldn’t play well consistently at all but the notion that he was never good? That is false. Between 2016 and 2017, he was in fact very good. That first year he threw 26 touchdowns with just seven interceptions. The next year, after a rough regular season at times, he led a bigtime comeback win in the playoffs against Kansas City and ended that postseason with four touchdowns and just one interception in two games.
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So it’s not like he’s incapable of being a good quarterback.
One must remember that Mariota was served a raw deal in Tennessee. In just five seasons, he had a total of three different head coaches and four different offensive coordinators. It is truly difficult to have any sort of success at that position with no sense of consistency from the coaching staff. Is it really so hard to think a fresh start elsewhere might be good for him?
One must remember that Mariota was served a raw deal in Tennessee. In just five seasons, he had a total of three different head coaches and four different offensive coordinators. It is truly difficult to have any sort of success at that position with no sense of consistency from the coaching staff. Is it really so hard to think a fresh start elsewhere might be good for him?
Either way, many still believe this isn’t going to happen. Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune is one of them, stating multiple times that because Trubisky and Mariota share the same agent, the odds of them competing for the job are remote. Still, it would ultimately be Mariota’s decision. If it’s not about the money, then he could very well embrace the opportunity.
