The Chicago Bears are rolling with Mitchell Trubisky, but that's only the first step of an important process
Mike Glennon has now found his natural home, as a back-up, but the talented Trubisky needs Ryan Pace to put everything into place if the Bears are to finally have their franchise quarterback
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Your support makes all the difference.Four weeks of the NFL season have passed and that means that the Chicago Bears' decision to drop Mike Glennon and put in rookie quarterback Mitch (call me Mitchell) Trubisky is overdue by exactly four weeks.
The second overall pick should have been given the reins of this team after dazzling in pre-season while Glennon, eventually jettisoned after a raft of dull defeats, looked like a statue in the pocket.
This was a prime example of old-school thinking holding a team back. Glennon was paid too much for his ability and was effectively a bluff to ensure nobody suspected they'd trade up for Trubisky. Sticking with him was after-the-fact nonsense when the two players looked night and day in pre-season. Bill O'Brien has plenty to be criticised for but he saw sense and threw in his rookie after just three quarters of the opening game. Had the Bears followed suit they mightn't be 1-3.
At some point you have to go with the better player rather than where you have the most money invested and Trubisky is undoubtedly a superior talent to Glennon.
You can see the spark he brings to the offense, a playmaking ability that Glennon could only dream of and mobility that will help the Bears' already impressive run game. The playoffs are out of the question already but Trubisky can now learn his trade in regular season NFL games to pick up the speed and complex nature of defenses.
From what we have seen of Ryan Pace, the Bears' GM, he is a good talent evaluator but struggles with contract valuations. The team has drafted fairly well under his reign but overpaid a few players now.
The fact that he took Trubisky without the knowledge or consent of head coach John Fox told us everything we needed to know about the old-timer's prospects in Chicago and Fox will not be the Bears' head coach next season.
So Pace's next major evaluation is likely to be his most important. Can he identify and hire a brilliant coach to take on the franchise's most important investment?
The LA Rams' success in replacing the past-it Jeff Fisher with a brilliant offensive mind in 31-year-old Sean McVay has turned the entire franchise around in just one summer. They protected Jared Goff in free agency and then drafted weapons for the first overall pick of 2016 to set him up for success. McVay's offensive scheme has done the rest.
Pace must now dramatically upgrade the worst wide receiver corps in the NFL and improve the offensive line either side of Cody Whitehair. But finding a head coach for the next few years who can oversee Trubisky's development, best setting him up to succeed, is what the Bears should be diverting all their resources into now.
For the kid, Mitch, it's time to play ball.
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