Super Bowl champion Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson are gearing up for massive paydays from the Kansas City Chiefs and Houston Texans, respectively, following impressive starts to their young NFL careers. In just three seasons, Mahomes and Watson have established themselves as the future of the league.
Meanwhile, Mitchell Trubisky — a fellow member of that 2017 draft class and the first quarterback taken — is fighting to keep his starting job over former Super Bowl MVP Nick Foles, who the Bears traded for this offseason following a disappointing effort by Trubisky.
While Trubisky was far from the only issue on offense, he was definitely the biggest concern. The Bears traded up to draft him No. 2 overall — over Mahomes and Watson — and his performance hasn’t lived up to that billing.
Just as Bears fans can’t escape the constant reminders that Chicago drafted Trubisky over Mahomes and Watson, it’s something that will follow Trubisky for his entire career.
“What I would say with Alex [Smith], here’s a No. 1 pick in the NFL draft, he’s being compared to Aaron Rodgers his whole career,” Bears head coach Matt Nagy said, via Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated. “Same thing, it’s never gonna leave Mitchell, being compared to Patrick and Deshaun.”
Not that it’s Trubisky’s fault, exactly. He didn’t choose to be the No. 2 overall draft pick over Mahomes and Watson — that was all Bears general manager Ryan Pace. But that won’t stop the comparisons.
Trubisky is entering the most important year of his NFL career, where he has a chance to rewrite the narrative surrounding him as one of the worst signal callers in the league after one bad year. Still, Trubisky’s entire career will be defined by what Mahomes and Watson accomplish and what Trubisky doesn’t.
