Nagy defends Trubisky's development as an NFL quarterback
It's inevitable that the Chicago Bears' Mitch Trubisky, the Kansas City Chiefs' Patrick Mahomes and the Houston Texans' Deshaun Watson will be compared as long as their NFL careers last.
All three quarterbacks were drafted in the first round in 2017, Trubisky second overall, Mahomes 10th and Watson 12th.
The comparison between Trubisky and Mahomes is more relevant because they play in similar offenses. And both have been coached by Matt Nagy, the Chiefs' offensive coordinator in Mahomes' rookie season and now Bears head coach and offensive playcaller.
So far, Trubisky pales in comparison to the son of former Cubs pitcher Pat Mahomes, who leads the NFL with 10 touchdown passes (zero interceptions) and is second with a 143.3 passer rating and an average 10.6 yards per pass.
Trubisky's passer rating is 80.0, which is 24th in the league. He has thrown 2 touchdown passes and 2 interceptions, and his 5.4 yards per pass ranks 31st in the league.
But Nagy says the comparison isn't fair, at least not yet, and he makes a valid point.
"What's fair to compare is you have one (player) in Patrick who has had a full year in this offense to understand it," Nagy said. "Now, regardless of playing in it, he's had a full year, more than a year, to sit behind it and learn and understand and watch tape with those quarterbacks last year and get to see all the talk, all the discussions of where you go on this play and that play, whereas Mitchell hasn't had that.
Mahomes' only start last year came in the season finale, while Trubisky started the Bears' final 12 games in 2017. But, while Mahomes is in the same offense as last year, Trubisky is operating an entirely new scheme.
"He's being forced into this thing right away, and so that's where these growing pains are going to occur," Nagy said. "I just want to make it clear to him and to everybody, if you're realistic about it, it does take a little bit of time.
"In the meantime, as you saw (Monday) night, we have a defense that can help us out during this process. So the sooner we get it and it starts clicking (offensively), the better. But that's the difference between the two, and it's obviously neat to see Patrick doing so well right now."
As Nagy observed, Trubisky does have the advantage of playing with a defense that can minimize his mistakes.
After each of his interceptions on back-to-back possessions in the second quarter Monday night, the Bears' defense forced a three-and-out.
Through two games, the Chiefs' defense is allowing an NFL-worst 508 yards per game, a whopping 65 yards more than the second-worst defense. But the Mahomes-Trubisky comparisons will continue.
"Those comparisons are easy," Nagy said. "But what's really behind that is you have one guy that has had plenty of time now to learn (the offense), and he's (still) learning this thing, too. He's just had an extra year to go through it.
"I don't think that's fair to Mitch to be put in that position, and I know Mitch doesn't put that on himself. We certainly don't do that. Hopefully, in the end, both of them have great, long careers in this type of offense."
Even though it's comparing apples to bowling balls, Trubisky's passer rating in last year's offense was 77.5, while he's at 77.2 this year in Nagy's scheme. Despite the mediocre results through two games this season, Nagy insists that Trubisky is making progress.
"I think just his trust in this system has grown the most," the coach said. "He's starting to see now, No. 1, we have a lot of plays. So when you have a lot of plays and a lot of scenarios that can happen within a play, multiplied by the amount of defensive coverages that you can see, when you put it all together, it's quarterback-friendly. He's got to understand that.
"In time, there's going to be a game here where it starts clicking, and we're going to feel that. We're not there yet, but I feel like we're getting steps in the right direction. We're certainly not going the other way. We're growing, and that's what I'm really happy about."
• Bob LeGere is a senior writer at Pro Football Weekly. Follow Bob's Bears reports on Twitter @BobLeGere or @PFWeekly.