With NFL free agency rapidly approaching, there has been a lot of buzz surrounding former Chicago Bears and Buffalo Bills quarterback Mitchell Trubisky.
The former No. 2 overall pick of the Bears in the 2017 NFL Draft spent last season backing up Josh Allen, and is expected to get $10 million-plus annually and compete for a starting job.
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The New York Giants have been the team most strongly connected to him, considering the Bills ties to new head coach Brian Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen.
While Trubisky most certainly deserves a second chance at a starting job, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero made quite the puzzling comparison.
“Whatever the perception might be, Trubisky is a one-time Por Bowl selection who was 29-21 (!) in parts of four seasons as the starter on a Bears team that lost before he took over and lost again after he left,” Pelissero wrote. “Statistically in Years 2-4, Trubisky compares favorably to the likes of Peyton Manning, Ben Roethlisberger and Philip Rivers at that point in their careers. He’s a good athlete with running ability. He’s a leader. With so many lingering quarterback questions, somebody will bet on Trubisky’s upside to at least come in and compete.”
That’s quite a high compliment to liken Trubisky, relegated to backup duties last season, to a Hall of Fame quarterback and two future Hall-of-Famers.
Trubisky certainly should not be given up on yet, and he deserves a shot at a second chance. But the comparisons, particularly to Manning who threw for more than 4,000 yards and was an MVP runner up in his second season, is a bit of a head-scratcher.
Rivers did not even start until his third season in the league, so it may not be a fair comparison, but in his third season as a starter, he led the NFL in touchdown passes.
Roethlisberger may be the closest, statistically speaking, to Trubisky early in his career. But even Roethlisberger had 10 more touchdown passes and 13 fewer interceptions than Trubisky in Years 2-4.
Perhaps Trubisky can resurrect his career, but comparing him to one of the aforementioned quarterbacks may be overstating things.
And if he does have a career similar to any of those three, then hey, we know who to credit for calling it first.
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