One thing I’m a stickler on is doing my best to get names right. So when the Buffalo Bills signed their latest backup quarterback I asked myself, is it “Mitch” or “Mitchell?” It feels like I hear both a ton. As it turns out it seems both are fine so I’ll go with “Mitchell” for uh, reasons. Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way I should probably get to the analysis the headline suggested would be taking place. Ladies and gentlemen...
MITCHELL TRUBISKY!
Play 1
Trubisky looks like a veteran on this play, knowing where to drop the ball for his safety valve when **** is about to hit the fan. He’s pretty poised too, which was consistent on film.
Play 2
Mitchell Trubisky anticipates this throw and begins his wind up when his target is turned away from him. That’s the good news. The ball is a bit off target and his teammate makes a nice grab to bail out the play.
Play 3
And here’s another off-target ball. He has a tight but workable window to fit this ball in if he leads his man into the catch. Instead it’s a bit behind and a near pick. Trubisky wasn’t terrible when it came to turnovers, but at a 2.7 percent interception rate he was 27th in the league this year. His career average is better at 2.3 percent and has remained relatively stable throughout his four years.
Play 4
The Chicago Bears had a lot of shorter passes worked into the offense in 2020 and Trubisky excelled at them. The two seconds to throw here isn’t all that common but shows that he works well with a quick-strike plan. Here’s his 2020 chart from Next Gen Stats, which shows the success in the short game and uh, not success with the deep ball.
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To be fair, Mitchell didn’t have this glaring struggle in his other seasons, though it was never a strength either.
Play 5
Back to the positives. Trubisky doesn’t have the time to reset and make this throw so he doesn’t—reset that is. He does make the throw and it’s a pretty nice one too.
Play 6
Another trait I liked was that he never seems to give up. This is a daring throw that he trusts himself to make. And his 67 percent completion rate means he’s pretty right to trust himself.
Summary
Let’s be a bit more serious to wrap things up. I can afford to be a little cheeky above because I think it’s clear that the Bills have an enviable situation at quarterback. That was the case before with Josh Allen expected to continue doing big things as the starter. Adding Trubisky means they have a backup who would be an upgrade over a fair amount of the league’s starters. And let’s be even more serious. Until recently, how many of us would have been over the moon to have Trubisky-level quarterback play on the Bills?