Tribune reporters Rich Campbell and Dan Wiederer look ahead to Mitch Trubisky's debut and how the Bears offense can attack the Vikings defense during Monday night's game. (Colleen Kane/Chicago Tribune)

Tribune reporters Rich Campbell and Dan Wiederer look ahead to Mitch Trubisky's debut and how the Bears offense can attack the Vikings defense during Monday night's game. (Colleen Kane/Chicago Tribune)

Regardless of whether Mitch Trubisky quarterbacks the Bears through the fast lane to a Super Bowl or whether his career sputters down Cade McNown Avenue, last Sunday will go down as the day the Bears deviated from the course they had mapped out for him. General manager Ryan Pace traded up to draft Trubisky second overall because he was enamored with Trubisky's athleticism and personality, his throwing accuracy and football intelligence. But Pace also decided months ago that the relatively inexperienced Trubisky needed time to practice and learn to be positioned for NFL success. But after only four games, and eight Mike Glennon turnovers, coach John Fox's patience expired. The initial timeline has been discarded into the best-intentions file. Trubisky will start Monday night against the Vikings and take his first step toward making or breaking the Bears' rebuilding project. His ultimate success, like that of every other highly-drafted quarterback, will be the product of an interconnected set of factors, the complexity of which makes it impossible to pinpoint an exact formula for a winning outcome. Given the importance of quarterback play to team success and the ambiguity in achieving it, the debate whether to sit or start a rookie quarterback rages on with enough examples to support just about any viewpoint. To crystallize the context of Trubisky's debut, particularly its timing, here is a sample of what current and former NFL quarterbacks, coaches and executives believe when it comes to sitting or starting a rookie QB. Photos of quarterback Mitch Trubisky, the No. 2 pick by the Chicago Bears in the 2017 NFL draft. The perfect storm Bill Polian: Panthers general manager in 1995 when they drafted Kerry Collins fifth overall; Colts general manager and team president in 1998 when they drafted Peyton Manning first overall; current ESPN analyst. "It depends on the individual situation: A, on the player's experience and readiness; B, the team he has around him; and C, the damage that could be done to him in terms of his confidence if he doesn't succeed. "Let me use Peyton as an example. Peyton had played four years of college football and had graduated (from Tennessee). He had played in a pro-style offense. He had incredible coaching from (coach) Phillip Fulmer and (offensive coordinator) David Cutcliffe. So he had gotten absolutely as much as he could have gotten in the way of preparation out of his college career. "Secondly, he grew up in the game (father Archie was a longtime NFL quarterback) and (was) a very mature individual. Pro football was not new for him. That was a rather unique situation. Third, he had a good team around him. (Tight end) Ken Dilger was there, (running back) Marshall Faulk, (wide receiver) Marvin Harrison. We had a good offensive line; it got better, but Tarik Glenn was there at left tackle. So he had people around him who could in many ways contribute to his growth. And we had (current Cardinals coach) Bruce Arians as the quarterbacks coach and Tom Moore as the offensive coordinator, who were convinced they could put him in there. And while there were going to be rough spots — and there were plenty of them the first year — he had the strength, the character to fight through it. "And, finally, he was in a marketplace where he was welcomed. It wasn't as though people were saying, 'Well, who's this guy?' or 'He has to succeed; maybe he's a bust.' The media said that, but the fans didn't feel that way at all. And so everything was good and everything turned out good. Now keep in mind he holds the record for interceptions by a rookie quarterback. It wasn't instant success by any means, (but) that was the perfect storm the right way. It worked out correctly." Peyton Manning: NFL quarterback 1998-2015; went 3-13 as rookie starter; Super Bowl champion with Colts and Broncos, as told to the Denver Post in December 2012. "All I know is had I not thrown the ball as much as I did that (rookie) year, I wouldn't have learned what I did, I wouldn't have learned what you couldn't get away with playing against good corners, like a Ty Law. And there's no way I could have made the jump that I did in that second, third year without playing that much that year. The only way to find out is go out there and push it a little bit." The waiting game Phil Savage: Ravens director of college scouting when they won Super Bowl in 2001 and director of player personnel when they drafted Kyle Boller 19th overall in 2003; Browns senior vice president/general manager when they drafted Brady Quinn 22nd overall in 2007; current executive director of the Senior Bowl. "Peyton goes through the 28 interceptions his first year. Can you imagine a guy throwing 28 interceptions now? Everybody would bury the poor guy. I think for Peyton … his dad was basically with him all the way through his life. The ultimate punching bag in the NFL — nobody had it tougher than Archie. (Peyton) had somebody in his corner that could really help him out. Most people don't have a corner man outside of their coaches to help them through this. He's even a little different than your typical QB trying to come into the league.

"It really is dependent on two variables: No. 1, the individual quarterback himself, and then No. 2, what timeline is your team on? "Boller was selected as a developmental prospect because we were under the impression that, OK, he has a lot of ability, but he's really just scratching the surface as a bona fide quarterback. "And so by the time we got to training camp and looked at the other options, obviously you turn the roster over to the coaching staff, and Brian Billick was like, 'Why are we even going to play someone else? We need to just go ahead and play him. We can protect him. We can usher him into the NFL.' "Well, the first series of his first game, it's a pick in Pittsburgh. We were 5-4 before Kyle got hurt. But, realistically, he was sort of hanging on for dear life. He flashed some plays, but he could have used some incubation time, in my estimation, because he didn't have a ton of experience. He just needed a chance for things to slow down." Brady Quinn: NFL quarterback 2007-14; did not start until 25th game; current analyst for SiriusXM Radio. "In a perfect scenario, you do what the Chiefs are doing (with rookie Patrick Mahomes). You find the guy you love. You trade up to get him or you take him. And then you sit him behind a veteran who he can learn from. He can learn how to game-plan. He can learn how to be a professional player, and it allows him to absorb the offense, absorb what defenses show him and get to know his personnel around him. And you put him in the next season and really allow him to flourish." Aaron Rodgers: Packers quarterback drafted 24th overall in 2005; backed up future Hall-of-Famer Brett Favre and did not start until his fourth season; Super Bowl champion; two-time NFL MVP. "There's a lot of growth that can happen sitting on the bench. You can really gain in confidence every single day of practice. You can come along at your own speed. You're obviously not dealing with the pressure every week of having to perform, which is a real thing. You come along and learn the league, learn how to be a professional and learn how to take care of your body." Carson Palmer: Cardinals quarterback drafted first overall by Bengals in 2003; did not start until Week 1 of his second season. "You have a chance to watch how you prepare as a starter, how you go about your business as a starter — especially if you're coming from a very non-pro-style (college) offense — seeing how offenses prepare, seeing the different pressures you're going to see and the different defenses you're going to see." Ben Roethlisberger: Steelers quarterback drafted 11th overall in 2004; went 14-1 as a rookie starter after veteran Tommy Maddox was injured; two-time Super Bowl champion. "You want to get out there, but you also understand that this is a different ballgame than college. Of course, you want to play, but you don't want to just get thrown in not ready to go. You're OK being patient trying to learn the offense because you don't want to look bad or let your teammates down. So you kind of want to say, all right, I want to learn this offense to the best of my ability. I want to know exactly what I'm doing on this look, this play, this check so that when I am called, I am as prepared as I can be and I don't let guys down. "I had an amazing defense, which helps a lot because it helps you to not worry so much about your mistakes. You make a mistake, you have a pretty good chance you might get the ball back or the defense is going to hold them. And then your mistake won't be magnified. But we had a great run game, and we had some receivers. We had Hines (Ward) and Plaxico (Burress) and Antwaan Randle El, so it's not like we weren't throwing the ball, too. It was just one of those things where you just believed that even if you made a mistake the defense was going to bail you out because they were that good." Mark Sanchez: Bears quarterback drafted fifth overall by Jets in 2009; went 11-8 as a rookie starter, including loss in AFC championship. "You're just in that rookie bubble, really. And ignorance is bliss. You don't know what you don't know. And that's perfect. By your second, third, fourth year, you learn a lot more about the league, about organizations, about professional football. It's the business side. It's the playing side. All of that. "If you're playing as a rookie, staying in that bubble is OK. There's nothing wrong with that. Hopefully you have — like Ben had, like I had — a veteran team to help you through it, to maybe keep the blinders on for a little bit. Because like most things in many occupations, if you try to take it all on at once, if you try to do too much, you're really hurting yourself immediately and in the long run. You can potentially ruin your confidence. That's real. It is. It's a delicate position. So it's a blur." A look at the Bears' quarterbacks through the years, from 1934 to present day. Not pictured: Steve Bradley (1 game; 1987), Greg Landry (1 game; 1984), John Huarte (2 games; 1972), Kent Nix (9 games; 1970-71), Tommy O’Connell (12 games; 1953), Tom Farris (20 games; 1946-47), Johnny Long (12 games; 1944-45), Bill Glenn (2 games; 1944), Charlie O’Rourke (11 games; 1942), Young Bussey (10 games; 1941), Solly Sherman (14 games; 1939-40) and Bernie Masterson (72 games; 1934-40). | source: pro-football-reference.com Confidence and positivity Tim Couch: NFL quarterback 1999-07 drafted first overall by Browns; started Week 2 as a rookie and went 2-12; as told to ESPN.com in 2014. "The most frustrating thing for a young quarterback who doesn't have the right pieces around him is dealing with some early failures and how you handle that. Can you keep your confidence high and not get gun-shy in the pocket? "I questioned myself. It probably happened toward the end of the season. (I) started looking at (myself), saying, 'Man, I don't know if I can play at this level. Is it me or what's going on?' All those things go through your mind. Me being the No. 1 overall draft pick, I felt extra pressure. It was the wrong thing to do, of course, but I was going out there with every throw trying to prove I was the No. 1 pick."