Former Bills quarterback Mitchell Trubisky may not have been the worst option for the Steelers, but he certainly wasn’t the best. So what gives?
News has recently broken regarding a two-year deal made between the Pittsburgh Steelers and former Buffalo Bills quarterback Mitchell Trubisky. And with such news, I find myself asking what the heck Pittsburgh saw that declared him as the guy?
Let’s kick things off with the positives because there does not appear to be many. For starters, he has some decent experience for a quarterback that was just picked off of another team’s bench. Said experience was mainly in Chicago, as Trubisky helped lead the Bears to two playoff appearances.
As far as what his stint in Chicago did for him as an individual talent, he also managed to obtain a Pro Bowl bid in what was just his second season. This all adds up to more than what can be said for anyone else in the Steelers QB room.
But while Trubisky may have been the superior talent to roll with when compared to the lackluster names that were already on the depth chart, that doesn’t mean much when throwing him under the microscope alongside several of the other outside names that were being seen on the rumor mill.
Perhaps the strongest current example of this would be Jimmy Garoppolo. Though he may not be a superstar either, he has better experience, accolades, and seems to have a less impulsive arm than Trubisky.
Steelers signing Trubisky is alarming
With that said, I don’t know what the Steelers saw in Mitch to give him such a colossal opportunity–especially one as colossal as going from a bench to being handed one of the NFL’s greatest franchises that is in the midst of a hefty rebuild.
Some people may just see him as a stepping stone until the Steelers find something better over the course of the next couple of years (and that may be the case), but Pittsburgh’s management is expected to do what they feel gives them the best chances of winning now.
To remember that when witnessing this move almost seems laughable, as Trubisky’s combination of arm and execution fails to exceed past “mediocre.”
One semi-sensible explanation for this acquisition could be that the Steelers are looking to draft a quarterback next month, and want a guy with a little more experience to serve as a mentor. And if the rookie were to end up not performing to the expected standard early on, then Mitch would still be there to start and, hopefully, keep the team afloat.
And while Garoppolo would have been the more-qualified option for this idea as well, he would have, understandably, been more of a burden to acquire/keep. When putting it that way, it does start to make sense. But beyond that one theory, I got nothing.
Referring to the Trubisky move as “alarming” may seem overdramatic to some, but it goes beyond the player; the Pittsburgh Steelers have rarely (if ever) left me pondering the reasoning behind an offseason move, and this instance heavily combats that trend. If such a phenomenon continues and Pittsburgh noticeably worsens as a result, “alarming” won’t even begin to cover it.