Chicago Bears: How Mitch Trubisky’s play mirrors a Hall of Famer

The Chicago Bears are trying to change their culture n the most fundamental way. They want to join the modern NFL with a good quarterback.

This is something the franchise hasn’t really felt in decades. Jay Cutler had a few bursts of good play during his eight-year run with the team, but it’s hard to call his tenure “good” in any way. Jim McMahon started out great but succumbed to injuries after a while. The franchise has truly only had one great quarterback and all the current Bears weren’t even over the age of 10 when he died at 81-years old.

All eyes have since turned to Mitch Trubisky. He’s the highest quarterback selected in a draft since Bob Williams back in 1951. Naturally, that comes with a lot of expectations, but have they already gotten a bit unreasonable? The backlash on the 24-year old this season despite playing some really good stretches of football is somewhat baffling. It’s hard to figure out why Chicago fans feel they can set the bar so high given what they’ve experienced in the past.

That aside, it’s been interesting to watch Trubisky develop this year, trying to get a feel for where he’s at. After some closer examination, it’s becoming apparent that he’s starting to follow a similar path another notable quarterback carved out back in the late 1980s.

Mitch Trubisky beginning to look like a young Steve Young

Making the comparison to Steve Young, who is a Hall of Fame player will likely draw plenty of criticism, but just settle down. This is not saying Trubisky is like Young the all-time great. This is saying he’s like Young when he first got to the NFL. For those who don’t remember, Young was anything but great when he joined the league in 1985. He was lost during his two years in Tampa Bay, but when he got traded to San Francisco two years later, many had hope for him.

Under a far better offensive mind in Bill Walsh with a strong supporting cast, he might flourish. Sound familiar? Indeed there were flashes of brilliance when Young got into games during his first two seasons. He’d go on hot streaks throwing a lot of touchdowns and looking brilliant. Then he’d suddenly start missing on passes one should normally hit and throwing interceptions.

The mistakes would cause him to throttle back on the aggressiveness at times, forcing him to run the football a lot rather than risk a turnover. In his first 10 starts between 1987 and 1990, he completed just 61.69% of his passes for 1,692 yards, 12 touchdowns, and 3 interceptions. He also ran the ball 57 times for 475 yards and three touchdowns.

Since entering this new system under Matt Nagy, Trubisky has put up the following numbers:

• 65.9 completion percentage
• 1,594 yards
• 13 TDs
• 6 INTs
• 31 rushes for 245 yards
• 2 rushing TDs

It’s not a huge discrepancy between the two. Young had a couple fewer interceptions. Trubisky completed a few more passes. Both have the exact same number of total touchdowns and are less than 100 yards apart in passing. Everything has been there for Trubisky that Young dealt with: inconsistent mechanics, erratic passes, and a tendency to tuck the ball when his first read isn’t open.

Young eventually figured it out, going on to win two MVP awards and a Super Bowl. Trubisky has shown to have that same drive, that same work ethic and that same desire to be great. All he asks in return is time to do the same.