Bears would love if Trubisky followed career arc of Eagles' Wentz
Sunday's game between the 3-7 Bears and the 9-1 Eagles in Philadelphia matches quarterbacks who were picked second overall in the previous two drafts.
The Eagles' Carson Wentz is already a bona fide star. He has thrown an NFL-best 25 TD passes and just 5 interceptions for a 103.4 passer rating and is a leading MVP candidate.
The Bears would be thrilled if their quarterback, Mitch Trubisky, followed a similar career arc. That seems unrealistic at this point. Not because Trubisky hasn't shown steady improvement in his six starts, but because Wentz's rise this year has been meteoric. After an up-and-down rookie season, in which he started all 16 games, Wentz is playing well enough to take the Eagles to Super Bowl 52.
“As a young player, he does some great things,” said ex-Bears wide receiver Alshon Jeffery, who in his first year with the Eagles has become a go-to guy for Wentz, along with tight end Zach Ertz.
“He's doing some things that a 10-year vet quarterback would be doing,” Jeffery said. “He's making some plays like (Aaron) Rodgers, (Tom) Brady, all the greats. He's doing some great things.”
Wentz has been on fire the previous six games, throwing 19 TD passes and just 3 interceptions. At 6-foot-5 and 237 pounds and with 4.7 speed and admirable athleticism, the 24-year-old Wentz also presents a threat as a runner.
The 23-year-old Trubisky has a connection with Wentz and has closely followed his career. He's impressed with what Wentz has accomplished at an early age.
“Me and Carson have the same agent (Ryan Tollner), so I was able to spend some time with him preparing for the draft,” Trubisky said. “It's really expected, that when you're drafted high and play right away (as a rookie), that in the second year you transition well and really deliver for your team.
That will be expected of Trubisky next year, and he couldn't have a better role model than Wentz, who led the Eagles to a 29-14 victory over the Bears in Week Two last year.
In Wentz's first four games in the league, he threw 7 TD passes and just 1 interception for a 103.5 passer rating. But, in his next 11 games, the North Dakota State product cooled off considerably. He threw just 7 TD passes, was picked off 13 times and posted a 70.2 passer rating.
This year, there have been no slumps.
“He's just gotten better and better in all facets of the game,” Bears defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said. “You could see his talent last year early. He's got better command of the offense (now).
“They're a very diversified offense in the way they try to attack teams, both in the run game and the passing game. He's managing it very well and operating it very well. You would never know it's just his second season.”
One of the most impressive aspects of Wentz's game is its versatility. He can beat a defense in a variety of ways, and he has a toughness and fearlessness that cannot be coached.
“All the plays look good,” Fangio said. “He's very strong in the pocket. He'll hang in there. He's got really good pocket feel to step one way or the other, and he can scramble outside of the pocket and throw on the run or pull it down and run.
“They do a really good job with their boot(leg) game. They use his skill set that way. He's a very multifaceted guy right now.”
The early returns on Trubisky indicate that he has already taken strides in accountability and leadership that are common to most great quarterbacks. Like everyone else who's studied Wentz, Trubisky sees those traits in the Eagles' leader and is striving to be the same type of player.
“He's the hardest working guy in the building,” Trubisky said. “He knows the playbook inside and out. Once you do that, all the guys will trust and believe in you.”
If observers are saying the same things about Trubisky a year from now, the Bears will have taken a giant step back to respectability.
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