When the Chicago Bears selected Mitch Trubisky 2nd overall in 2017, GM Ryan Pace felt exuberant. He’d gotten his guy. The quarterback he felt could lead his franchise back to the top of the NFL mountain. Plenty of draft experts didn’t mind the pick. For them Trubisky was the best quarterback prospect in the draft, even if they felt it wasn’t necessary for the Bears to trade up and grab him.
However, there were more than a few critics of the move. While they understood the talent Trubisky had, they worried about his severe lack of experience. He’d only started one season for North Carolina. When asked about that at the time, Pace stated he wasn’t too worried about it. As it turns out, he may have understood the risk he was taking more than people realize.
During his recent mailbag for The Athletic, insider Jay Glazer explained how he spoke to the Bears GM at the time and how the subject of job security would be tied to that pick.
“Listen, without a doubt, they are hoping that Trubisky comes out the other side and becomes a perennial Pro-Bowler. When they were drafting him, I remember Ryan Pace and I talking about “need.” I said to him, “Well, your pick needs to be the need to not get fired.” We laughed about it.
After he picked Trubisky, he brought that back up again. That’s the thing with these quarterbacks, it’s such a 50/50 proposition. You gamble your reputation, your stake, on a guy hoping he’s going to be THE GUY that leads you into the next decade. If he’s not, it sets your franchise back.”
Ryan Pace clearly believed in Trubisky that much
This offers a nice peek into Pace’s thinking back then. This shows that he knew precisely what he was doing. He understood the enormous risks of passing on more proven players like Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson for a kid who was essentially a flash in the pan by that point after one season. This shows just how much the GM fell in love with Trubisky. It wasn’t a case of him weighing pros and cons. Pace liked the player and the person and ultimately went with his gut.
Subscribe to the BFR Youtube channel and ride shotgun with Dave and Ficky as they break down Bears football like nobody else.
So it’s little wonder he’s likely praying the young quarterback might yet rise to the occasion. Most have already written him off. Nick Foles is in town now. He’s got a Super Bowl ring. He knows the coaching staff and performed at much higher levels in this offense. Trubisky’s back is against the wall. Will he fold and become yet another in a long line of Bears quarterback busts or will he accept the challenge and prove the job belongs to him?
It would be quite the story if it ended up being the latter.
