Mitchell Trubisky appears to be the franchise quarterback that the Chicago Bears have been waiting on for years. They have gone through quarterback after quarterback trying to find a guy that fits what they need long-term. Finally, it appears that the franchise is settling in on Trubisky as their guy.

Chicago made Trubisky the No. 2 overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft. It was a move that some Bears’ fans thought was a mistake, while others thought would save the franchise.

New head coach Matt Nagy is excited about working with his young quarterback. Chicago offensive lineman Kyle Long talked about the way Nagy has been coaching Trubisky in a recent interview shared by NFL.com.

“I’d say they took his training wheels off this spring. I can only envision a 3-year-old Mitch Trubisky riding around on training wheels being pissed off because he wants to go over the jumps and he wants to do all the tricks like the big kids are doing. Because that’s who Mitch is. He’s a kid, but he can roll with the big guys. That’s when he’s going to do this [season], and be able to have some freedom and creativity. We really respect that about coach Nagy. He’s really letting [Trubisky] fly his freak flag.”

Obviously, Nagy trusts his young quarterback and wants to let his signal caller figure things out on the run. Chicago will need a big season from Trubisky to compete in the NFC North against three quality teams.

2017 Season Review

In his rookie season with the Bears, it took some time for head coach John Fox to give the starting nod to Trubisky. Mike Glennon struggled enough that it forced Fox to make that decision.

Even when Trubisky took over the job, the Bears did not place much trust in him. They kept the football on the ground with Jordan Howard and Tarik Cohen. Trubisky did not gain much game experience, although he did show some flashes of being a capable NFL starter when given the chance.

In the 12 games that he played during the regular season, Trubisky completed 59.4 percent of his passes for 2,193 yards, seven touchdowns, and seven interceptions. It seems likely that the Bears’ offense will run through Trubisky much more this season.

Kyle Long says Mitchell Trubisky is "As poised a young player I've seen in the league." https://t.co/hTHooXog2n pic.twitter.com/ium30P0d5h — The MMQB (@theMMQB) July 13, 2018

2018 Season Outlook

Looking ahead at the 2018 NFL season, the Bears are excited to see if their team can take the next step in the rebuilding process. Trubisky taking the next step would effectively accomplish that goal.

Predicting a young quarterback’s numbers is never an easy job. Even with that being the case, it would be reasonable to expect the second-year quarterback to throw for at least 3,000 yards, 17 touchdowns, and around 10 interceptions. His numbers could be much better than that, although his interception total could be higher as well.

Chicago may not be ready to compete with Green Bay, Minnesota, and Detroit just yet, but Trubisky gives them hope for the future.

Training Camp Projection

Trubisky is going to be the Bears’ starting quarterback in 2018; there is no question about that. Chicago will be looking to see what kind of development Trubisky has made this offseason in training camp and preseason action. If he is able to show improvement before the season, it will give Bears’ fans reason to hope that they can take a step forward this year.