Chicago Bears Already Have Blueprint to Help Trubisky

The Chicago Bears are confident they have their first legitimate franchise quarterback in a long time with Mitch Trubisky. His talent alone hints that.

Most people have gotten lost in the stats. To date the #2 overall pick is completing barely 47% of his passes and has yet to go over 200 yards in a game. To his credit he’s played with composure. It would be easy for a rookie to get frustrated and try to make too many things happen, leading to a bevy of turnovers. Instead he’s taken what he can get from defenses and limited his mistakes.

This despite a rather dubious situation on the roster around him. Truth be told the Bears have a lot of work to do before Trubisky can become a genuine threat. It starts with improving both is pass protection and his arsenal of weapons. The former isn’t too bad but there are lingering issues at the tackle spots. By far the worse problem is the wide receivers.

Put simply they don’t really have any.

1983 offers the perfect blueprint of how to handle the next step

People have hesitated to make too many ties between Trubisky and former Bears great Jim McMahon. However, the two have a lot in common being former top 5 picks with big questions coming in. McMahon was half blind and undersized. Trubisky is highly inexperienced. Another thing they had in common was virtually no passing offense worth mentioning when they arrived. Care for an idea of how bad McMahon had it in 1982?

His two leading receivers were tight end Emery Moorehead and fullback Matt Suhey. Their leading receiver was Ken Margerum with 207 and three touchdowns in nine games. Nobody remembers that though. Why? Largely thanks to what happened the following spring. The 1983 draft was easily the best in franchise history. It included Hall of Fame defensive end Richard Dent and two other future starters on the Bears defense.

What many forget though is how it began. The plan during that weekend was obvious. Chicago aimed to get McMahon as much help as possible. Their first pick was Pitt left tackle Jimbo Covert. Their second pick was wide receiver Willie Gault. A little later in the draft they scooped up guards Tom Thayer and Mark Bortz before finishing it off in undrafted free agency with wide receiver Dennis McKinnon.

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Those men helped form the bedrock of what the Bears offense would become over the next few years. McMahon went on to the Pro Bowl in 1985 and the unit ranked 2nd in the NFL. It never achieved it’s full potential though due in large part to unimaginative play calling and the fact McMahon could never stay healthy. Nonetheless that approach in 1983 proved vital to the success they did have.

It’s this same blueprint they must follow for Trubisky in 2018.