Mitchell Trubisky is halfway through his third season. Can we now pencil him in as a lost cause? The quarterback drafted before Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson isn’t getting better; he’s getting worse.
Matt Nagy was able to make him look good early last season, drawing up plays that worked. Trubisky, recall, was a top-10 fantasy quarterback at the halfway point of last season.
Seriously. After nine games last year, Trubisky was averaging 256 passing yards, with a 19-7 mix of touchdowns to interceptions. They used him a lot as a runner (he averaged 36 rushing yards in those nine games, with 3 TDs).
| TRUBISKY: FIRST 9 NAGY STARTS | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opp | Result | Pass | TDP | Int | Run | TDR |
| at G.B. | L 23-24 | 171 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 1 |
| Sea. | W 24-17 | 200 | 2 | 2 | 24 | 0 |
| at Ariz. | W 16-14 | 220 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 0 |
| T.B. | W 48-10 | 354 | 6 | 0 | 53 | 0 |
| at Mia. | L 28-31 | 316 | 3 | 1 | 47 | 0 |
| N.E. | L 31-38 | 333 | 2 | 2 | 81 | 1 |
| NYJ | W 24-10 | 220 | 2 | 0 | 51 | 0 |
| at Buff. | W 41-9 | 135 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 0 |
| Det. | W 34-22 | 355 | 3 | 0 | 18 | 1 |
But it’s all kind of gone now. Defenses are playing him smarter, and the rushing production is gone. Trubisky in his last 12 games has averaged only 193 passing yards, with 11 TDs and 8 interceptions. As a runner, he’s averaged only 12 yards per game, and with no touchdowns.
(Trubisky was sidelined almost immediately in the Minnesota game earlier this year; if we set that one aside, he’s averaged 210 passing yards per game in his last 12 – 5 full starts this year, a playoff loss against the Eagles, and his last six starts form 2018.)
| TRUBISKY: LAST 12 NAGY STARTS | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opp | Result | Pass | TDP | Int | Run | TDR |
| Min. | W 25-20 | 165 | 1 | 2 | 43 | 0 |
| LAR | W 15-6 | 110 | 1 | 3 | 23 | 0 |
| G.B. | W 24-17 | 235 | 2 | 0 | 16 | 0 |
| at S.F. | W 14-9 | 246 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| at Min. | W 24-10 | 163 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 0 |
| Phil. | L 15-16 | 303 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| G.B. | L 3-10 | 228 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 0 |
| at Den. | W 16-14 | 120 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| Was. | W 31-15 | 231 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Min. | W 16-6 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| N.O. | L 25-36 | 251 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| LAC | L 16-17 | 253 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 0 |
I didn’t include the passing percentage figures in these charts, but it’s held pretty steady – 66 percent in both groups. Difference is that for the first half of last year, he averaged 12.1 yards per completion. He’s averaged only 9.2 in his last 12 starts – he’s not hitting on enough downfield shots.
I see too many plays where he’s simply missing plays that are there. I expect the Bears will be shopping for a new quarterback in the offseason.
—Ian Allan