2020 VISION ON ’17
Mahomes, Watson are draft’s 1-2 punch, while Trubisky is reeling
The answer is so simple now. Take Patrick Mahomes with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 NFL draft.
Follow up that show-stopper with Deshaun Watson at No. 2.
Then draft Mitch Trubisky in the third round. Or the fourth.
Just three years later, Mahomes is the best quarterback in the NFL and already has led Kansas City to a Super Bowl victory. Watson is the franchise face of the Texans and won’t turn 25 until September. Trubisky?
He’s set to battle with former Jacksonville/Philadelphia/ Kansas City/St. Louis/Philadelphia QB Nick Foles for the right to lead the 2020 Chicago Bears, whenever the NFL begins.
I spent part of my Sunday morning listening to a TV analyst insisting that the 31-year-old Foles has the upper hand against the 25-yearold Trubisky.
And while the recent decisions to pick up the fifth-year contract options for Mahomes and Watson were immediate no-brainers, Chicago on Saturday declined to do the same for Trubisky.
Cold, cold, cold.
The coronavirus has changed everything in the real world and our sports world, so I’m not going to pile on. I will simply point out that Trubisky was the No. 2 overall pick in 2017, the Bears traded a ton to take the one-year college starter from North Carolina, and declining Trubisky’s fifth-year option is both fascinating and unreal.
As the final days ticked away during the buildup to the first round of the 2017 draft, there was
no certainty that the Texans would A.) trade up and B.) finally invest in a young QB via the draft.
But the night before April 27, the feeling began to grow that the Texans — previously led by Brock Osweiler, who had been traded to Cleveland on March 9 — might increasingly be eyeing a new quarterback and, if they took one, Watson could fit their vision.
An absolute certainty on draft day: The Texans weren’t going to trade the world for Trubisky.
The decision came down to Mahomes or Watson. Kansas City made the second big QB move.
The Chiefs traded away the No. 27 overall pick, a third-round selection and a 2018 first-round pick for their franchise-changer at No. 10.
The Texans followed the charge — stunning their fanbase and instantly altering their organization at the same time — by leaping up from No. 25, and sending that pick and a 2018 first-round selection to Cleveland for the opportunity to land Watson at No. 12.
Mahomes was consistently doubted throughout the silly mock-draft process. Watson was once viewed as a late first-rounder. Both selections have obviously already worked out and now the only remaining questions are the big ones.
How many Super Bowls is Mahomes going to win?
Will Watson lead the Texans to their first AFC Championship game, then their first Super Bowl stage and world championship trophy?
How much will both highly athletic and charismatic QBs rake in, when they sign lifechanging and record-setting contract extensions?
Watson and Mahomes met on Kansas City’s field in the AFC divisional round last season. The Texans led 24-0. The Chiefs won 51-31. It truly feels like their backand-forth battle has only begun. Trubisky?
He’s one training camp away from being a backup.
And it’s amazing what happens when instant draft grades are thrown in the trash (where they always belong) and we actually allow time to work its magic.
Mahomes only played one game his rookie season.
Watson took over the Texans’ starting QB job after Week 1 and inspired the fanbase with a hope previously unseen. But after six increasingly exciting starts, his rookie campaign ended with an ACL injury.
Trubisky “won” the rookie year, starting 12 games and throwing 330 passes. His second season, team-wise, was a significant step forward. He went 11-3 as a starter, the Bears finished 12-4 and they would have beaten Foles’ Eagles at home in the playoffs if they had converted a 43-yard field goal.
But Trubisky has yet to throw for more than 3,223 yards in a season. He only threw 17 touchdown passes last year, while the Bears disappointed at 8-8 and failed to make the playoffs. And I sincerely doubt that you could find anyone in the world right now who would publicly state that they would take Trubisky over Mahomes Watson.
I hope Trubisky proves the 2020 Bears wrong. It would be a great story.
But three years after the QB draft debate of 2017 began, it’s already over.
Mahomes was the right pick for the Chiefs. Watson was the right pick for the Texans.
The QB drafted before both was the definition of a firstround reach. And if Trubisky ends up on Chicago’s bench, jobs will be lost and the miss could haunt the Bears for decades.