When it comes to the NFL, there’s no use wasting time thinking about what could’ve been. Where would an NFL franchise be if they’d made a different decision?
There are plenty of “what ifs” that would’ve drastically changed the course of the NFL. What if George Halas had died in a boat accident? What if Halas didn’t save the Packers? What if the AFL and NFL never merged? What if Cody Parkey made his 43-yard field goal against the Eagles?
That’s what Bears fans have been doing when it comes to the quarterback position. Wondering where this team would be if general manager Ryan Pace wasn’t so enamored with North Carolina quarterback Mitchell Trubisky and traded up one spot to draft him in 2017. Wondering where the Bears would be if Pace had drafted Patrick Mahomes (or even Deshaun Watson.) But for the sake of this week — Bears/Chiefs week — let’s focus on the Mahomes aspect.
The simple fact of the matter is that Pace chose wrong with Trubisky. Mahomes and Watson have shown that they’re special talents in this league, and Pace passed on both of them. In fact, he didn’t even bother meeting with Watson during the draft process.
So people are entitled to their critiques, they’re entitled to their frustrations and they’re entitled to their comparisons between Trubisky, Mahomes and Watson.
“It doesn’t matter if they’re fair — they’re inevitable,” offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich said it best of the comparisons. “Guys, whether you’re an NFL quarterback in your 17th year or your first year or the same year, [it will] certainly lend to more comparison. That’s going to happen if you play any position in this league forever. That will happen, if you play it differently.
“I don’t know if [Trubisky] sits at home and looks at their stats line and compares each other or not. But there’s things you kind of take them in, you spit them out and you move on. Whether it’s, ‘Hey, I’m way better than this guy’ — or way worse, whatever those results or conclusions are — what he does between the white lines and off the field is what matters.”
But there comes a time when pining over “what could’ve been” becomes problematic. For Bears fans, especially this week as Mahomes comes to Soldier Field, those “what ifs” are going to be even louder. They’re going to be even louder if Trubisky plays poorly and is booed by his home crowd while Mahomes stands on the opposite sideline. Even worse if “Mahomes” chants erupt from the Chicago crowd.
While Bears fans have plenty of reason to be upset with Pace’s decision to take a chance on an inexperienced quarterback over Mahomes and Watson, the time has come to stop pining over Mahomes and Watson and start hoping for the best with Trubisky.
Trubisky hasn’t done enough, especially this season, to show Bears that they should be confident in the future of this franchise with him at quarterback. But given that Trubisky is going to be back in 2020 — likely the starter — there should be a desire for him to flip that switch this offseason. Even if it doesn’t seem realistic. You still hope for it.
While Trubisky has been a big part of the problem on offense this season, he hasn’t been the only problem. Chicago’s offense has been out of sync for most of the season. But Trubisky has shown improvement over these last six games — with two truly impressive performances. It’s not a guarantee, but it’s something to hang hope on.
[lawrence-related id=433743,433732,433667,433613,433601,433606]