The Mitch Trubisky prediction machine has kept running fast and furious for the past few weeks. All anybody wants to know is this: will the #2 overall pick in the draft see action in 2017? Some think it’s inevitable. Others believe the Chicago Bears will stand by their word not to put him on the field. After all the central fact for the talented, young passer is he’s raw. He only started 13 games in college.
Most don’t expect him to overtake veteran Mike Glennon during training camp or the preseason. Head coach John Fox is notorious for holding rookies back from playing if it can be avoided. That’s likely why Glennon was signed in the first place. Fox knows he has to start winning more games in 2017 or the odds grow that he’ll be fired.
Peter King of the MMQB has taken stock of the situation and come away with some fascinating insight for this year.
Mitch Trubisky prediction centers on some key factors
King claims that Glennon is not happy with the Bears’ decision to draft Trubisky. That’s not a surprise, especially after having endured the same exact scenario two years earlier in Tampa Bay. This essentially means that he has 16 games to prove to the team brass that he should be the starter long-term.
Subscribe to the BFR podcast and ride shotgun with Dave and Ficky as they break down Bears football like nobody else.
“Free-agent signing Mike Glennon is grinding his teeth over the drafting of QB Mitchell Trubisky (second pick in the draft), and he has one season to stake his claim for the job. (I wouldn’t be optimistic in the Glennon household.)”
At this point it feels like nothing short of either a Pro Bowl campaign or a playoff run will keep Glennon in the starting role for long. History says highly drafted quarterbacks will find the field fast nowadays if there is even a remote hint of team struggling. King pointed out a determining factor in this is the Bears’ first four games of the schedule. Three of which will be against playoff teams (Atlanta, Pittsburgh, Green Bay) and another who beat them 36-10 last year (Tamp Bay).
A brutal start can unravel everything
There is a real possibility the Bears could start the season 0-4 or 1-3. The odds of making the playoffs after such a start are long even at best. In such a case the writing would already be on the wall for Glennon. That might explain the quick prediction King made shortly after breaking down the Bears’ chances.
“Bears prediction of 10 words or less: Trubisky is the quarterback by Thanksgiving. It doesn’t matter.”
If that is a correct assessment, it means Trubisky will make his NFL debut at home against the Detroit Lions on November 19th of this year. Odds are by that point the fate of the season will be clear. What better way to introduce him to the NFC North than at home against a longtime rival. So much can happen between now and then, but it’s certainly something to mark on the calendars assuming the other assessments by King and others are true.
Selfishly one can hope Glennon defies the odds and is able to win a few more games than expected to make it interesting.
