The day Trubisky grew up

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Stanford vs North Carolina

It’s Trubisky’s final game of his college career, his 13th start as a quarterback. This game showed a glimpse of everything there is to love aboot Mitchell Trubisky.

He showcased his ability to evade the rush and throw on the run...

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He made throws from different platforms. To be able to make this kind of a deep accurate throw without using your legs is very special...

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And this game highlighted Trubisky’s lightning quick decision making. Mitchell Trubisky trusts his eyes, and he trusts his arm. The moment he saw any kind of daylight between his WR and the defense, he would let it rip...

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But this game also showed the worst of Trubisky. And by worst I refer to again to that same lightning quick decision making. As a first year starting qb, Trubisky didn’t see much of an adjustment from opposing defenses throughout the season. But this was the final game of the year. And it was a bowl game. And Stanford did their homework.

What they did was try to take advantage of Trubisky’s decision making by confusing or tricking him. On the first INT, Trubisky sees the conerback fall and immediately fires to his WR, but he never saw the safety in the underneath coverage.

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On the second INT, Stanford shows two deep safeties presnap, but one of the safeties breaks in immediately at the snap of the ball which fools Trubisky badly...

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Green Bay vs. Chicago

Fast forward to this past Sunday. I feel this was a monumental day in the progression of Mitchell Trubisky. You see, there is a huge dilemma when drafting a 1 year starting qb out of college. They never got that second year in college where the opposing teams adjusted to their play, making the QB adjust his game in turn.

What you end up with is a QB highly susceptible to zone coverages and disguised coverages. What you end up with is a QB that is not ready to start in the NFL. But the only, only, only, only, only way to reallly learn how to read these defenses is by seeing them unfold before your very eyes. You can read books upon books aboot various coverages, but until you see a safety shoot a gap and intercept a pass you were sure was destined for your TE, you haven’t learned anything.

So what do you do? If you sit him, he’s not gonna get any better, and if you play him he’s gonna make a bunch of mistakes. Well, John Fox has been trying to play Trubisky while bypassing the learning and the mistakes. He’s been doing everything he can to eliminate Trubisky from the game plan and in turn has been stunting Trubisky’s growth. Where he was once a sure decision maker, he no longer trusts his eyes. He hesitates and holds the ball too long, afraid to make a mistake.

And that’s why I loved this game so much. While I still saw the same issues, I also saw glimpses of a qb beginning to trust his eyes and take chances. I saw a qb making mistakes throwing the ball, and I loved it.

It all started on the first pass of the game. This was absolutely vintage Trubisky. He went through his progressions lightning quick, and once he saw some room between Wright and the CB, he fired.

WRIGHT SLANT

On his second drive, Trubisky made an absolutely awful decision on a particular play.. First of all, Dontrelle Inman absolutely DESTROYED the CB covering him on a 20 yard route as he made his cut toward the sideline. Unfortunately, Trubisky abandoned the read too quickly.

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Then the ILB Martinez backs into a zone at the snap of the ball. Trubisky eyes Cohen and thinks he can rifle it into him in between the zone coverage. Martinez reads his eyes perfectly and makes his move as Trubisky turns his shoulder. This should have been an INT. This is a pass Trubisky would have never attempted previously. While it’s a terrible decision, it’s a learning moment.

MARTINEZ COHEN ANGLE #1

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Trubisky struggles with zone coverage. He does not know where to attack it, and therefore he eats the ball instead of risking a mistake. In fact, many of his sacks are in zone coverage where he is simply too afraid to pull the trigger. So to see him taking shots into these zone coverage is an encouraging sign and the only way he will improve...

SACK EXAMPLE

There are many things a coaching staff could do to make things easier for Trubisky, which they do not do. But not on this play. Here is a shining example of how to help your qb. Fake hand off and fake end around suck in 7 defenders, clearing the entire middle of the field for Trubisky to lay one into Inman. And again, as was the case throughout the game, Inman ran a fantistic route.

FAKE END AROUND

And now to the play that ties all of this together. It’s first down deep in the 4th quarter. It looks like zone coverage with 2 deep safeties. The personnel is two defensive linemen, three linebackers, and six defensive backs. The bears have a 3 wide receiver set. At the bottom of the screen is Inman as the X receiver, which means that he’s the WR lined up furthest away from the TE, and is the only WR lined up on the line of scrimmage. Wright is the Y or slot receiver working the middle of the field. Bellamy is the Y as the flanker opposite the X, but he is lined up a few yards behind the scrimmage.

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Green Bay has 4 defenders lined up on the line of scrimmage. Trubisky is in the shotgun next to his RB, and the TE Brown is lined up on the LOS next to Leno.

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Since the X receiver is lined up right on the LOS, he is often times jammed by a CB at the snap of the ball. So it takes a bit longer for that route to develop. Because of this, it is safe to assume that Trubisky will be starting his progressions with Bellamy. Before snapping the ball, the CB opposite Bellamy starts to retreat, giving Bellamy a full 10 yard cushion. As his first read, this is a gimme for Trubisky. The Packers are basically daring Trubisky to go here.

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But what Green Bay does next is exactly what Stanford did on the pick 6 he threw in the bowl game. Immediately at the snap of the ball, the deep safety breaks in to try to jump the route in front of Bellamy. But Trubisky wasn’t fooled this time. He’s seen this before and learned from it. If he read this wrong, this is another pick six...

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The next obstacle for Trubisky to overcome is his arch nemesis, the ILB Martinez. As the ball is snapped, Martinez backs into that middle zone coverage. But where last time Trubisky focused on Cohen in almost throwing an INT, this time his focus is squarely on Martinez. Instead of Martinez reading Trubisky, it is now Trubisky reading Martinez.. Trubisky knows where Martinez wants to go, but he freezes him with his stare down. Where Trubisky turned his shoulders before making the decision to go to Cohen on the almost INT, this time he only turns his shoulders after he decides to go to Inman on this play, giving Martinez even less time to make a move.
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And then Trubisky rifles a throw right in between the zone, not leading Inman too much to keep the ball away from Martinez. Where he was hesitant in the Cohen play, Trubisky lets it rip decisively here. Dontrelle Inman runs a great route, as he knows exactly where to find the soft spot in the defense

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The end result is a beautifully read and diagnosed defensive read and pass for a crucial 17 yard game.

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Well done, Mitchell Trubisky!

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TRUBISKY INMAN ANGLE #1

TRUBISKY INMAN ANGLE #2

TRUBISKY INMAN ANGLE #3

SIDE NOTE

Let me just preface this by saying this is in no way a prisoner of the moment type of observation. And this has nothing to do with him simply looking good compared to what we already have...

I was cautiously optimistic aboot what Inman could give the bears as a WR, mainly because SD used him primarily in the slot. He was not lining up on the outside battling the big boy CB’s. But on Sunday that all changed. Not only did he line up on the outside all day, the dude was winning all the battles. The Packers CB’s we’re getting torched by him the entire game. The guy was running elite routes, not just good routes, and we may just have something here.
Last edited by Adipost on Fri Nov 17, 2017 10:43 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Nanky
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Awesome break down like usual! Thanks for sharing!!
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Awesome stuff as always... on that zone defense example you provided, I didn't see anywhere for the kid to go with the ball.
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Excellent as usual homie.

Re: Inman. Man, if the Bears hit on him, it would really make things easier. If they could get something out of Inman/Meredith/White/McBride/Etc it would really open up the draft and not pigeon-hole the team into over drafting a WR.
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Great stuff, Adi. Thanks!
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dplank wrote:I agree with Rich here
RichH55 wrote: Dplank is correct
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Good stuff as usual.
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Great stuff as always, thank you for the breakdown!! If you have any extra time, would love to see a breakdown of the play where Trubisky had a wide open Bellamy on a play action bootleg and decided not throw it to him and resulted in a sack.

After the game Trubisky said he saw him too late and didn't get the ball to him early enough and he didn't feel like Bellamy was open because the CB was baiting Trubisky into the throw. Wondering if the game tape holds true.
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I like this post because it was detailed and showed some interesting potential for growth. However I hope that this was actually what Trubisky saw and recognized. I will say that Fox's game plans wont help him grow. Personally I would like them to fire Fox and let Fangio be temp Head coach and tell Loggains to cut Trubisky loose.....for better or worse.....to let him grow
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wab wrote:
Re: Inman. Man, if the Bears hit on him, it would really make things easier. If they could get something out of Inman/Meredith/White/McBride/Etc it would really open up the draft and not pigeon-hole the team into over drafting a WR.
This was exactly my thought after the game, and i felt like i'd get dragged for even saying it out loud.
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Thanks man! Great stuff!

I think the longer this goes the more chances they will be letting him take. Like you said, the only way he will learn more is by doing it. He needs to make mistakes at this point to get better. (IMO).... But what they have been doing (coaching/playcakking) isn't a bad thing entirely either. They are just trying to bring him along slowly and give him more as time goes on (I don't exactly love the actual plays, but get the concept). It's obvious that he needs time and experience, but it's obvious that he has the skill to go to the next level in time.

I really like these posts and breakdowns. Looking forward to seeing more. And hopeful that they let him throw more and more. I can care less if he shits the bed here and there. I want him to learn and destroy next season.. :)
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Inman is a mf baws and basically makes Meredith expendable next season while the bears actually sign a real FA WR and hopefully draft one in the 2nd. Stop phuckin with these injured and CHIT tier WR Pace and get Tru some playmakers!
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Inman being a decent wide receiver does nothing to make me want to let Merideth walk. We need as many competent receivers as we can get, and he was on his way to being pretty good. Maybe a real solid #2.

Inman and Wright are both decent #3 types. We still would have the hardest job of bringing in a #1, and I'd prefer if the depth after them was actually NFL caliber as well.


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BR0D1E86 wrote:Inman being a decent wide receiver does nothing to make me want to let Merideth walk.

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no no no man, now that we have inman we actually have too many good wr's.
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Why pay Meredith big contract dollars when you can go find a free agent for probably less money who doesn't have a broken knee?
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Thank you for posting that breakdown! Great read and very educational for this novice.

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Well we need to see how Meredith recovers first. Tender him and match offers if need be.
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bearsfaninaz wrote:Well we need to see how Meredith recovers first. Tender him and match offers if need be.
I thought he was already locked up for next season?
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He's an RFA after this season

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MoFugger wrote:He's an RFA after this season

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Oh ok, thought they extended him for some reason.

Well I would def bring him back anyway, I'm sure he won't cost much. Plus Bears have a thing for injured players.

Inman is a nice little piece to the puzzle but you need several pieces to put it together.

Meredith
Inman
Wright
FA/Rookie
White (he will prob go down again so)

Depending on where we pick a WR in the draft, we prob go FA and Rook, with a cut somewhere...
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46Blitz wrote:
MoFugger wrote:He's an RFA after this season

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Oh ok, thought they extended him for some reason.

Well I would def bring him back anyway, I'm sure he won't cost much. Plus Bears have a thing for injured players.

Inman is a nice little piece to the puzzle but you need several pieces to put it together.

Meredith
Inman
Wright
FA/Rookie
White (he will prob go down again so)

Depending on where we pick a WR in the draft, we prob go FA and Rook, with a cut somewhere...
I agree. It's going to depend on where his knee is at, but nobody will know better than the Bears medical staff.

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PapaDongo wrote:Why pay Meredith big contract dollars when you can go find a free agent for probably less money who doesn't have a broken knee?
I'd be shocked if he got big dollars, for one.
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PapaDongo wrote:Why pay Meredith big contract dollars when you can go find a free agent for probably less money who doesn't have a broken knee?
I'd be shocked if he got big dollars, for one.
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DaSuperfan wrote:Great stuff as always, thank you for the breakdown!! If you have any extra time, would love to see a breakdown of the play where Trubisky had a wide open Bellamy on a play action bootleg and decided not throw it to him and resulted in a sack.

After the game Trubisky said he saw him too late and didn't get the ball to him early enough and he didn't feel like Bellamy was open because the CB was baiting Trubisky into the throw. Wondering if the game tape holds true.
I have no idea what he is talking aboot on that play. There is no one anywhere near Bellamy. But on the final drive of the game, Trubisky throws one up to Bellamy for what should have bean a 35 yard gain, only Bellamy lets up on the route.

Bellamy sucks
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