Deshaun Watson and Patrick Mahomes have gotten most of the press this offseason as they head into their second seasons. But of the three quarterbacks drafted in the first round in 2017, Mitchell Trubisky was the highest drafted.
The second overall pick played 724 snaps in 12 starts, won four games and threw 330 passes. Watson and Mahomes combined for 486 snaps, seven starts, four wins and 239 attempts.
Trubisky learned a lot in his rookie season even if he didn’t have as much success as he had hoped.
“The experience aspect and how to prepare day in and day out,” Trubisky said on SiriusXM NFL Radio. “The grind of how long the season is, because you obviously don’t get that from the college season. You add a bunch more weeks in the NFL in everything you’ve got to do on a day-in, day-out basis. The speed of the game, and how there’s no weak spots on the other side of the ball. Everyone’s a baller in the NFL. You’ve just got to come prepared or else you’re not going to be able to do your job correctly. I definitely learned a lot about how you have to handle yourself as an NFL quarterback and being prepared on a week-to-week basis and just being the leader my team needs. I’ve learned a lot over the last year, and I’m looking forward to using all that information and continue to learn and get better for the future.”
He obviously also learned to speak in cliches.
“For us, it’s just taking it one day at a time, control what we can control and be the best that we can possibly be for the Chicago Bears,” Trubisky said of his goals this season. “Again, it’s just taking it one day at a time. We can’t get ahead of ourselves or jump ahead on the schedule. We’ve got to try to be 1-0 each week and focus on each opponent, and we know what kind of talent we have in this locker room, and I think if we believe in each other if we have, continue to buy into coach Nagy’s plan, that we can contend with anybody. You guys know that’s how it is in the NFL: Anybody can win week in and week out. It’s all about how you prepare, how you execute and who buys into the plan. Looking forward to it. We know we’ve got a very tough division, but’s going to be a great challenge for this team. I just like the mindset we have going into this season.”
Trubisky has spent the offseason immersing himself in new coach Matt Nagy’s offense. The Bears need Trubisky to take a leap similar to the one Jared Goff made last season in his second season to have a chance to do what Trubisky says they can do.