(1) The Bears made their draft about Mitch Trubisky and Ryan Pace staked his tenure on the success of the Tarheel quarterback. One can argue whether the Bears could have stayed pat at three and still ended up with their desired quarterback but Halas Hall did not believe that. They believed staying at three meant possibly losing out on the guy they refused to leave Thursday night without.

(2) I got an email out of the blue Monday saying – essentially – “sounds like you boys are all-in on Trubisky”. I thought, “Okay, that’s odd.” Told Jahns. Told Dannehy. Went to a someone reliable around the Bears and they unreservedly confirmed it. Yesterday, once the Myles Garrett pick became official, I was 100% on Trubisky coming to Chicago.

(3) This pick makes the entirety of the off-season program more interesting. OTAs, Bourbonnais, preseason games…etc. all become about Trubisky and his development. And for the first time in my life, I’m considering going to training camp for a few days.

(4) Pace will try to get at least one of those mid-round picks back tonight.

(5) I refuse to rule out Trubisky playing in 2017.

The future of the Chicago Bears is now Mitch Trubisky, quarterback, North Carolina. That’s it. They will continue developing a top defense and beefing up their rushing attack but the organization’s future is 6’3″ and has a last name made for the Windy City (although he should probably change it to Trubiski).

Now the question…when does he play? And all coverage of the 2017 Chicago Bears will center around that question.

The offseason program will be about Trubisky’s grasp of the system. Bourbonnais will be about Trubisky’s leadership and execution. Preseason games will only get exciting once Trubisky enters. And the regular season will either be a year-long learning curve for the Tarheel or a week-by-week will they won’t/won’t they for the John Fox and the coaching staff.

The 2004 Giants did it right. With Kurt Warner on their roster and a newly-drafted Eli Manning, they gave Warner a shot to win games. After half the season they knew that wasn’t going to happen and they handed the keys of their franchise to Manning. He struggled mightily in his rookie campaign, going 1-6. He wouldn’t have a losing record for the next seasons.

The Bears have chosen their franchise quarterback. The rebuild doesn’t truly begin until he sees the field.

(Author’s note: Last week I wrote I didn’t think the Bears would draft a quarterback third. Forget that, they can’t possibly think Mike Glennon is the answer.)

There has been almost nothing to link the Bears to North Carolina quarterback Mitch Trubisky, which is exactly why I think they really like him.

After sending a team of people, including Ryan Pace and John Fox, to Clemson for Deshaun Watson’s workout, the Bears didn’t send anyone of note to see Trubisky this week. There were also no reports of Pace going to watch Trubisky during the season. Really, nothing has connected Pace and the Bears to Trubisky other than a standard interview at the combine.

Hell, we even have Pace talking specifically about having a problem with what is perceived as Trubisky’s biggest flaw, experience:

“Yeah, it carries a lot of weight. I think there’s nothing that can really substitute that,” Pace said at the Senior Bowl. “It’s already a big jump from college to the NFL as it is, so the more of that you have, the more beneficial it is.”

I don’t buy it. 

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The NFL’s annual meat market kicks off this week and here are a few things to watch for:

The Quarterbacks

In case you haven’t noticed around here, this off-season is about one thing: finding a quarterback. This week is going to be the Bears first real chance to sit down and talk football with the top four guys: Deshaun Watson, DeShone Kizer, Mitch Trubisky and Pat Mahomes.

The Bears know who Brian Hoyer is, have a good feeling about Jimmy Garoppolo and are at least relatively familiar with all of the other veteran options. Their pro personnel department has done their work. They don’t know the quarterbacks in the draft simply because they haven’t had the opportunity to study them beyond their game tape.

Does Watson have enough meat on his bones? What does Kizer attribute his inconsistency to? Is Trubisky really short?  Does Mahomes have any clue when it comes to reading coverage? These are some of the questions the Bears need to ask.

The most important part is going to be the interview process. The Bears need to find out what makes these guys tick. They won’t publicly broadcast that information, but we’ll hear the buzz. The Bears could fall in love with a quarterback here and that could change everything.

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After the worst season in terms of total losses in franchise history, the Bears should have one mission this offseason: find a quarterback.

Two weeks ago, I cited John Fox’s record without Peyton Manning as a reason to fire him. Here’s the counter argument: Fox won almost 80 percent of games when he did have a franchise quarterback. I don’t know how much credit Fox deserves for his time with Manning (a former Broncos player once told me Manning ran the whole show), but I do know that a great quarterback changes everything.

Guys like Jack Del Rio and Mike Mularkey have job security solely because their teams have good, young quarterbacks. The Cowboys went from 4-12 to 13-3 largely because they upgraded from the likes of Brandon Weeden and Matt Cassel to Dak Prescott. Mike McCarthy was getting fired two months ago but he’s now preparing for a playoff game because Aaron Rodgers put his team on his back.

It takes more than a great quarterback. The Colts continue to prove that. But the Bears have a good system in place and the kind of supporting cast that would be favorable for any quarterback to step into.

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No Weekend Show this week as I’m under the weather and my voice is dogshit. Thus, we return to an old standby…THE GAME PREVIEW!

Why Do I Like the Chicago Bears This Week?

I always like the Chicago Bears.

Any Football Reasons, Jeff?

Sure. Four:

• Mutiny in Minnesota. Not sure I’ve ever heard stories like the ones coming out of the Vikings game against Green Bay last weekend. The head coach created a defensive approach, taught it to his players and then a corner decided, “Eh, fuck it.” Then they told the press all about it! We knew something was wrong in Minny when Norv jumped ship mid season. I don’t think anyone knew it was this wrong.
• #barkleytime. Yep, I’m making the prediction. Matt Barkley will rebound from the awful performance against Washington and play his way to Bourbonnais.
• What is the fatal flaw of these Bears? Their secondary. What quarterback threatens the secondary less than Bradford? I’m not sure. Bradford wants to dink and dunk his way to glory and that plays right into the hands of Fangio’s defense.
• There was a time when the Vikings rush defense looked like the league’s best. But there was also a time when the Vikings were good. Now they’re a midpack rush defense, facing a juggernaut back 60 or so yards from the Bears rookie record. Jordan Howard dominates.

Football Friday & Saturday (The Future)

Players to watch in the bowl games over the next two days:

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