Getty Former Chicago Bears QB Mitchell Trubisky.
Over the past week, the groundwork has been initiated for what the Giants hope can help propel them out of the depths of NFL mediocrity and return the franchise to its once-storied state. On January 22, the team hired former Buffalo Bills assistant general manager Joe Schoen as their new GM, who quickly got to work in search of a head coach. After a week of deliberation which included six candidates and eight total interviews, Schoen ultimately chose to keep things familiar, hiring Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll as the successor to Joe Judge.
Daboll spent the past four seasons in Orchard Park masterfully constructing what has blossomed into one of the league’s most vaunted units. Built around the elite dual-threat skillset of quarterback Josh Allen, the Bills have ranked as a top-three offense in each of the past two years.
Now in East Rutherford, Daboll will look to put his offensive genius to the test with the NFL’s 31st-ranked offense from 2021. The first thing on the agenda when it comes to revitalizing the unit (aside from revamping the offensive line) will be determining whether or not Daniel Jones can serve as the catalyst of his offense. The initial thought to that answer is yes. ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky tweeted shortly after the Daboll hiring that the new Giants coach “absolutely loves” Jones. Additionally, many in NFL circles feel as if Daboll envisions Jones as a Josh Allen-lite of sorts.
Taking those notes into consideration, as well as the recent vote of confidence cast upon Jones from ownership, it’s becoming more improbable that the team swings for a blockbuster move at the position this offseason. The Russell Wilsons or even the Derek Carrs of the world may be off the table. Having said that, Jones is no sure thing. He should be pushed for the job and the team cannot enter another year with a Mike Glennon-type backing him up.
So, without further ado, enter Mitchell Trubisky.
Trubisky to the Giants, a Lock?
The former No. 2 overall pick signed a one-year deal with the Bills this past offseason to backup Allen and learn under the tutelage of Daboll and quarterbacks coach Ken Dorsey (a favorite for the Giants offensive coordinator job). The idea was he’d be able to rebuild his stock and then be given an opportunity to compete for a starting role elsewhere come 2022.
That dream looks to be on the verge of reality, as NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah told the “NFL Rhodes Show podcast” that the former North Carolina product is “going to be a starter next year.” As for where that might be, many appear to believe Trubisky to the Giants is a done deal.
“Mitchell Trubisky vs. Daniel Jones should be an interesting QB competition this spring/summer,” Myles Simmons of Pro Football Talk tweeted after the Daboll hire.
Sports reporter Brendan Stiles wrote, “New York Giants quarterback Mitchell Trubisky could be a decent bridge QB for whoever Daboll can get in 2023.”
Ryan Fedrau of USA Today drew the conclusion even before Daboll’s name was signed on the dotted line, tweeting on January 21 that “Brian Daboll and Mitchell Trubisky will both be Giants in 2022.”
The latest Giants news straight to your inbox! Subscribe to the Heavy on Giants newsletter here!
Sign up for the Heavy on Giants Newsletter!
Trubisky Overview
The tweets and analysts’ takes linking Trubisky to the G-Men go on and on, and understandably so. The marriage makes sense on numerous fronts and goes beyond the obvious Daboll-Schoen connection. For starters, at the very least he’s a player molded in the same fashion as Jones. Trubisky is a mobile dual-threat option with over 1,000 rushing yards in his career. This means if Jones struggles to stay healthy in 2022 (has missed 10 games over the last three years), the team wouldn’t have to drastically alter their game plan as they’ve needed to in recent years when Glennon or Colt McCoy was serving as his primary backup.
On top of that, Trubisky is the type of player who could theoretically push Jones in camp and even potentially serve as legitimate competition for the starting role over time. While he got a bad shake in Chicago, the Ohio native still managed to amass a 25-13 record over his final three seasons with the Bears. Over that span (39 games, 38 starts), he compiled 63 total touchdowns and 37 turnovers while leading Chicago to two postseason appearances. Still yet to turn 28 years old, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that Trubisky could go down a similar career path as Ryan Tannehill did when he supplanted Marcus Mariota in Tennessee a few years back.