Time is now for Mitch Trubisky to elevate struggling Bears offense

Just after Texans rookie Deshaun Watson accounted for five touchdowns in a blowout victory for the Texans, the Bears are turning to their own first-round draft pick.

The future, one fans have waited the longest time for, arrives Monday night when the Bears host the Vikings at Soldier Field. Mitch Trubisky will become the first quarterback drafted by the Bears in the first round to start as a rookie since Rex Grossman at the end of the 2003 season.

The plan to bring Trubisky, who made 13 starts in his college career at North Carolina, along slowly imploded when Mike Glennon proved to be the kind of turnover machine the Bears were seeking to avoid in the first four games.

What Glennon did in a 1-3 start to the season doesn’t matter now. It’s all about Trubisky, and his development will be what general manager Ryan Pace and his staff ultimately are judged on. Trubisky’s ascent gives coach John Fox and his staff a chance to change the narrative regarding their status in a season that must produce some promise for the future to hold off sweeping change at Halas Hall.

Trubisky will have 15 practices under his belt since the end of the preseason when he faces the Vikings, including four this week as the newly anointed starter. Vikings coach Mike Zimmer is 8-7 against rookie quarterbacks since 2008 when he was named defensive coordinator of the Bengals, but that creates some apples-to-oranges comparisons. Rookies on that list that range from Joe Flacco, Carson Wentz and Matthew Stafford to guys like Jimmy Clausen, T.J. Yates and Geno Smith.

Trubisky attempted 53 passes in the preseason, and 11 were intended for wide receivers currently on the 53-man roster with Deonte Thompson clearly his best target. He targeted Thompson eight times, completing seven passes for 85 yards. Josh Bellamy was targeted twice and Kendall Wright once. Markus Wheaton missed the preseason.

The move creates an opportunity for offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains to shine, and if they succeed, Glennon’s failures will soon be forgotten. Loggains worked to accentuate Trubisky’s athleticism in the preseason, and that’s one way he’s dramatically different from Glennon. Thirty-seven of his preseason passes came from shotgun and 16 were from under center (including one a spike to stop the clock). Ten under-center passes came off play fakes, one was a straight bootleg with only four straight dropback passes.

That’s something that will take some time as Trubisky adjusts to the nuances of the pro game and Loggains will likely incorporate some elements that made him successful in college as the Vikings and subsequent opponents will surely be aggressively pressuring from the edge to attack his rollouts and bootlegs.

The Bears can add zone-read elements, or run/pass options (RPOs), that create more one-on-one matchups for the wide receivers. It simplifies the coverages for the quarterback and more importantly the reads as the safeties have to honor run fits. They’re quick throws, which could create some big runs for Jordan Howard and Tarik Cohen.

At times it’s as simple as counting the numbers. If Trubisky has a trips formation to the outside and there are two defenders, he throws a bubble screen. If there are three, he hands the ball off inside. The Tar Heels ran more power concepts with their RPOs, similar to what the Panthers do with Cam Newton, but that’s a good way to get Trubisky crushed. If he keeps the ball, the mandate should be to gain 5 or 6 yards and get down or get out of bounds if he’s running to the boundary.

The formula in Houston with Watson has been a ton of quick game with some RPOs and play action mixed in with bootlegs and sprint-outs. The quick game involves simple reads — slant, flat, checkdown or curl, flat, checkdown. Inside breaking routes create high-percentage throws, and there’s generally one defender to read.

Trubisky isn’t going to make the Bears’ corps of wide receivers look like stars, but if he brings the kind of spark he had in the preseason, he’ll elevate the play of the offense and put the Bears in a position to be more competitive.

The Bears stuck to their plan as long as they could and now they chart a new course, one they hope leads them back to relevance.

bmbiggs@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @BradBiggs

Trubisky’s targets

Rookie quarterback Mitch Trubisky spent most of the preseason playing with second- and third-teamers, but the Bears were rotating players at the skill positions. Here’s a breakdown of his 53 passes in the preseason:

Victor Cruz: 8 targets, 4 catches, 14 yards

Deonte Thompson: 8 targets, 7 catches, 85 yards

Tanner Gentry: 6 targets, 4 catches, 77 yards

Daniel Brown: 4 targets, 3 catches, 11 yards

Titus Davis: 4 targets, 3 catches, 38 yards

Adam Shaheen: 4 targets, 2 catches, 9 yards

Benny Cunningham: 3 targets, 3 catches, 31 yards

Jeremy Langford: 3 targets, 2 catches, 19 yards

Josh Bellamy: 2 targets, 2 catches, 25 yards

Rueben Randle: 2 targets, 2 catches, 18 yards

Joshua Rounds: 2 targets, 1 catch, 13 yards

Ben Braunecker: 1 target, 1 catch, 6 yards

Daniel Braverman: 1 target, 0 catches, 0 yards

Ka’Deem Carey: 1 target, 1 catch, 1 yard

Freddie Stevenson: 1 target, 1 catch, 17 yards

Kevin White: 1 target, 0 catches, 0 yards

Kendall Wright: 1 target, 0 catches, 0 yards

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