Chicago Bears fans probably don’t want to walk over the same ground again after enduring the misery for years, but with Patrick Mahomes gunning for his third Super Bowl ring, it’s difficult not to—that and because crazy details keep coming out about what happened in April of 2017. Everybody knows the story. Former GM Ryan Pace traded up from #3 to #2 to select North Carolina quarterback Mitch Trubisky. It was a shocking decision at the time. Trubisky had only one year of starting experience. It felt like the Bears were bidding against themselves in that moment.
Everything about the process that led to that moment felt off. Had the Bears front office, scouts, and coaches really reached a consensus that such a move was the right course of action? As it turns out, no. Former Bears director of player personnel Josh Lucas shared details of what happened on Football Night in Chicago. It turns out that the Trubisky decision was led mainly by Pace and himself. Contrary to previous reports, there wasn’t nearly a consensus on the choice. That is especially true for the coaching staff, who were apparently cut out of the decision entirely.
This is in addition to several people inside Halas Hall preferring Mahomes.
Lucas didn’t recognize how flawed the Mitch Trubisky process was until later.
Watching Mahomes thrive in Kansas City, and even Deshaun Watson in Houston woke him up to the many mistakes he and Pace made. So when the golden opportunity to draft another quarterback arrived in 2021, the two worked hard to fix the issues. This time, the coaching staff was heavily involved in the evaluation process. Communication was open and honest. Lucas admitted debates went back and forth between Justin Fields and Mac Jones right up until the day of the draft. In the end, they felt Fields was the better choice.
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Overall, they were correct. Fields proved to be the more productive quarterback at the NFL level, while Jones floundered in New England. It was a small victory in the end. Lucas, Pace, and the coaching staff were fired after that first season ended. A rookie quarterback couldn’t mask their other failures. It was another depressing chapter in the Bears’ tortured legacy at the position. Mitch Trubisky wasn’t the worst, but his story serves as a grim reminder of how bad the organization is at this.
One can only hope Ryan Poles can get it right this time.
@Tom Waddle Told Ya So, if you don’t hire or promote a first timer that has built their resume successfully to that point, what are your alternatives that would work so much better? Find a retread who got canned from his last job for making too many bad decisions and not learning from the quickly enough? Maybe a guy who was bad enough to be fired, but good enough to learn from his mistakes and now believes he has evetything figured out because he’s “experienced”? Maybe talk an old guy out of retirement and see if he has any energy… Read more »
@PoochPest Agreed. Actually, after watching Sean Payton in Denver with Russell Wilson, I almost wonder if Payton knew what Brees was doing in New Orleans too. It just seems shocking to see such a big drop off with Wilson. He’s not Brees, but he’s certainly not a bad QB, and they had a fair amount of offensive talent. That’s also why I think Payton is desperate to get a top QB in this draft and might trade his entire future plus players to make that happen. He may not be on the hotseat, but his reputation is very much at… Read more »
@Bubba Ho-Tep Just out of curiosity, I went back and looked at that Eagles box score, and I think, much like most of the Bears losses of the past couple decades, that one wasn’t really on the QB. Trubisky played plenty well enough to win. He certainly outplayed Foles and even led what should have been a game winning drive. It’s irrelevant with regard to Mitch because he clearly does not have the ability to be a good NFL QB, but I do think it’s relevant from the perspective of how so many Bear fans are absolutely convinced THE problem… Read more »
@Dr Melhus – but this regime is no longer here. So analyzing their failures is rather pointless when you consider the different approach taken by the new regime.
IMO, Lucas is simply putting out these tidbits to try and stay relevant.
@Tred: Failing sucks, but we learn more from our failures than our successes. How not to do something is pretty important.