NFC North Quarterback power rankings: Detroit Lions near the top
By Ash Thompson
Mitch Trubisky
The Chicago Bears quarterback of the future Mitch Trubisky may very well develop into a hall of fame player. He may, in the future, be the best quarterback in the division. He is certainly not that right now.
Trubisky can be forgiven for not being elite just yet. He is entering only his second season in the NFL. The signs were good during his rookie season. He had an even TD to INT ratio, despite having basically no legitimate receivers to throw to. He completed almost 60% of his passes, though his yards per attempt tell the story of more than a few check downs. The rookie played in 12 games but threw a mere seven passes in one of them. The team was not riding Trubisky’s arm, because he is just not at that level yet.
It is difficult to really judge him this early in his career. Any quarterback with half a mind would be tempted to check down to Tarik Cohen. We can, however, blame Trubisky for a certain number of his sacks. He was not a quick decision maker, and his line was not often up to the task of protecting him for as long as he wanted to hold the ball. In the same game he threw only seven passes, Trubisky held onto the ball for four sacks. The Carolina Panthers had a very good pass rush last season, but they were not good enough to generate a 36% sack rate without help from Chicago’s offensive line and quarterback.
As the season progressed, Trubisky did begin to look better, but with his second game against the Lions showed that he was simply not yet a bonafide franchise quarterback. The Bears have improved his targets greatly, and Trubisky was far from a dumpster fire in Chicago. The rest of the NFC North is loaded at the quarterback spot, however. For that reason, he is number four.