Could Mitchell Trubisky be relevant again?
Updated: Feb 24, 2022
It may be worth pulling those old Mitchell Trubisky rookie football cards out of those $1 boxes.
It has been over two years since Mitchell Trubisky threw a Touchdown Pass in a NFL game, which happened to be in a playoff game against the Saints after Trubisky led the Bears to 6-3 as a starter. We all remember rolling our eyes when #10 missed open receivers or made silly mistakes with the football, but his overall statline was actually better that year than I remembered. 16 TD passes in 9 games is nothing to shake your finger at. He completed 67% of his passes and had 5 games with a Passer Rating above 90. Now those numbers are pretty average, but remember, Matt Nagy was his coach..
Please understand that I do not think Trubisky is in the top 32 QBs in the National Football League, nor does he, at this moment in time, deserve to compete for a starting job. However, there may be a situation brewing where he might just be the perfect guy for the job, and he is now an unrestricted free agent.
The New York Giants just hired their new head coach - Brian Daboll. He was the offensive coordinator for the Buffalo Bills, where Trubisky backed up Josh Allen this past season. It is not customary for a new coach to bring a QB with him when he takes a new job, and there is no doubt that the Giants front office wants all efforts made to develop Daniel Jones. But…
Let us never forget just how bad the Giants’ offense was this year.
They averaged 287.3 yards per game (2nd worst), and a dismal 15.2 points per game (2nd worst). They were dead last in turnovers, giving the ball away 30 times. Fam, the Giants had more turnovers than touchdowns (27) this year. This offense was so bad, that they felt their best chance for…sucking less(?) was to run a QB sneak on 3rd and 9 in the 2nd quarter. If you have any friends that cheer for the G-Men, reach out.
I am not an advocate for firing coaches (especially in their first 3 seasons) but as someone high up in the Giants organization recently said,
“Every week, I thought we hit rock bottom, and then it got worse the next week.”
The Giants have actually done a lot of things right. On offense, they have drafted well in the last five 1st rounds of the NFL Draft, with all five of those offensive first round picks being in the starting lineup this past season. They signed Kenny Golladay, a proven veteran receiver. They have playmakers in each skill position. Before this season, I remember saying “Daniel Jones has no excuses this year - he has all the tools to be successful.” However, I don’t think a single fan or analyst would put this stinker of a campaign on Daniel Jones.
Jones started 11 games and had a Passer Rating of 90+ in 8 of them (I like to think that 90 is average enough to not be considered a bad game). Although he threw only 10 TDs compared to 7 INTs, he still managed to lead the Giants to 4 wins (two against playoff teams).
Without Jones, the New York Football Giants won zero football games this year, going 0-6 while he was hurt. Saquon Barkley, Kenny Golladay, and Evan Engram played in most (if not all) of the 6 games Jones missed, yet they combined for ONE touchdown through that span. Needless to say, Mike Glennon and Jake Fromm were not able to make things happen, despite having legitimate weapons. Former coach Joe Judge clearly didn’t help either.
This leads me to Mitchell Trubisky.
Coach Daboll is facing one heck of a rebuild in terms of schematic structure. From installation, to chemistry, to confidence, it is going to be an uphill battle when working with an offense that had such little production last season. Daniel Jones is a smart guy, but he is going to have to focus on getting himself up to speed. Any QB can tell you that the hardest part about learning a new offense isn’t learning the playbook yourself -it’s getting your teammates to comprehend what that looks like with your style of play. You know what would help Daniel Jones, Saquon Barkley, and the entire receiving group? Another QB who knows exactly what Coach Daboll is looking for.
Being Josh Allen’s offensive coordinator has plenty of perks, but when you run your QB that much, you have to invest significant time and effort into developing your backup. Trubisky, being a former NFL starting QB, made that an easy task. Daboll and Trubisky had a good relationship. Trubisky was quoted as saying something to the effect of “it feels good to be wanted” (not a common comment from backup QBs). I would imagine that Trubisky has a strong grasp of Daboll’s offensive schemes, tendencies, and game plans.
I can’t help but to also consider how similar Mitchell Trubisky and Daniel Jones are. Their play style is fairly similar - pocket passer with the ability to run. Both came out of the ACC and were the 2nd QBs drafted in their classes. Both came into the league with a solid running back to hand the ball off to. Both were called to start in their rookie season.
By all accounts, I think Daniel Jones is better, but is Trubisky not the perfect backup? Daboll would not have to change any schemes or strategy if Trubisky were to be needed. He is certainly an upgrade from Glennon and Fromm. I cannot imagine Daboll is going to ride with those two behind Jones. Who else would they bring in?
Being the Giants backup QB isn’t a reason to invest in his cards.
I wouldn’t drop a line about the $1 box investments if I thought that was the ceiling for ol’ Mitch. The truth is that Daniel Jones has missed 8 games in two years, and the Giants lost 7 of those 8 games (somehow, Colt McCoy pulled off a 17-12 win at Seattle in 2020, despite throwing for only 105 yards…wild). QB2 has to be a priority, especially when you have that many weapons on your offense. History tells us that NYG QB2 can get some serious opportunities.
I believe Daniel Jones can have success with this offense. By success, I mean I believe the Giants can make the playoffs in 2022. I will give you a minute to stop laughing, then I want your attention.
I believe we are going to see another year of the NFC East being the worst division in football. It was so bad in 2021 that it produced two playoff teams because the Giants and WFT provided the Eagles with ⅓ of the wins they needed to get in.. With the coaching upgrade, a healthy Daniel Jones, and another solid 1st round pick (they have two picks in the top 7), I don’t think it’s out of the realm of possibility that those tables can turn to benefit the Giants. This notion led me to look at the rest of the Giants schedule. It is as weak as it could be.
Outside of their weak division, the Giants play the NFC North (possibly without Aaron Rodgers), the AFC South, Panthers, Ravens, and Seahawks. Not a single team on their 2022 schedule won a playoff game this year. Only four made it to the playoffs at all. The bar is extremely low.
The New York sports market is the biggest market in the world. The Jets are going nowhere fast. The Knicks had their kickstart last year, but were sent home by the Hawks in the first round. Baseball might not even happen this year. New York fans are starving. They wanted to see Joe Judge fired, and that’s what they got. Now their expectations will be high for Daboll and Jones. If Daniel Jones can stay healthy, he might just be good enough to elevate a New York team out of the darkness, which will send his football card value soaring. If he gets hurt again… maybe Mitchell Trubisky can accomplish the same goal.
Please share this article with a Giants front office member near you. Thanks.
-Jonathan Keith
Brothers In Cards
