The Chicago Bears, in 2017, were looking to solve a long time problem the team had behind center. The most important position in the game of football. The quarterback position. For decades now the Bears have had nothing but hot garbage throwing the football. The quarterback from the 1940’s, Sid Luckman, is still the best in franchise history. An ERA where they ran the ball coming off the bus. Loved Jim McMahon as the punky quarterback who led the Bears to their only Superbowl title. Jim Miller and Erik Kramer showed me heart and determination at the position. If Jay Cutler had a statue, I would get a band of protesters together and play some mailbox baseball with Cutler’s granite cranium. In 2017, the Bears had a chance to fix their ongoing problem which has aggravated fans for years. The experts had 3 door prizes in the very first round to choose from. The Bears had first crack at each door prize. They went with the booby prize by taking Mitch Trubisky. At the same time, the Chiefs moved up and took Patrick Mahomes, as he was the last door to be opened. The Texans took Deshaun Watson, who was the second door prize. What if the Bears were able to land Patrick Mahomes?

It took Patrick Mahomes only three seasons to win a Superbowl after the Chiefs beat up the 49ers in the big game on the biggest stage this past February. Patrick Mahomes playing behind center has earned him a ten year extension worth 503 million dollars. It is easiest the biggest contract by one player in sports history. This deal surpasses Mike Trout for the biggest in sports. Mahomes is the first half billion dollar player in the history of the sporting world. Patrick Mahomes only played in one game in 2017, as he watched and learned Andy Reid’s system. In 2018, Patrick Mahomes lit up the league with his play. Mahomes threw 29 touchdown passes in his first ten games, more than any other QB in NFL history. Mahomes became the first Chiefs player to pass the pigskin for 8 straight games, throwing for 300 plus yards in each of those contests. Mahomes easily has become one the NFL biggest stars and you have to say he’s up there with the leagues best at the quarterback position after only three years in the league.

How did the Bears get the booby prize? Let’s look at the college stats of the three door prizes in 2017.

PATRICK MAHOMES: TEXAS TECH, 32 GAMES, 11,252 YARDS, 93 TD PASSES, 29 INTERCEPTIONS WITH 63.5 COMPLETION PERCENTAGE AND 152.0 QB RATING

DESHAUN WATSON: CLEMSON: 38 GAMES, 10,168 YARDS, 90 TD PASSES, 32 INTERCEPTIONS WITH A 67.4 COMPLETION PERCENTAGE AND 157.5 QB RATING

MITCH TRUBISKY:NORTH CAROLINA, 31 GAMES, 4,762 YARDS, 41 TD PASSES, 10 INTERCEPTIONS WITH 67.5 COMPLETION PERCENTAGE AND 157.6 QB RATING

If I was just going by the numbers and what they did in college, Deshaun Watson would be the number one pick out of the three choices. Plus Watson had Clemson in the College championships battling it out with Alabama more than once. Mahomes’ numbers in college are off the charts. Mahomes played six less games than Watson and threw more TD passes and more yards. Not even mentioning the rushing stats from Mahomes. Mitch Trubisky’s numbers look good. Most games he played was a back up role as he only started one season In North Carolina. Trubisky has the highest completion percentage out of all three. In the NFL, Mitch Trubisky has a hard time with hitting wide open receivers in stride.

What if the Bears chose Patrick Mahomes instead of Mitch Trubisky? Originally Mitch Trubisky was going to sit his first season as he learned from Mike Glennon. Glennon I first thought would be a decent choice for the Bears in 2017 when he was on the free agent market.  The Bears overpaid for his services. Mike Glennon was touched by the Bears and presto… he turned into hot garbage. Like the kiss that turned the prince into a frog. Would Patrick Mahomes have done better behind center than Mitch Trubisky in 2017 under the Coach Fox coaching staff? Mahomes makes players better around him and can make plays happen with his arm or just taking off with his legs. I would like to think that Mahomes would have done better that season in a Bears uniform than Mitch Trubisky. In 2018, the Bears had the best defense in the league. Bears gave Trubisky help with a better receiving core. Plus they brought in Matt Nagy to take over for John Fox as head coach. Matt Nagy who worked in Kansas City before coming to Chicago. Nagy had coached Mahomes in Kansas City his rookie year. Remember Mahomes only played one game in 2017. If the Bears had drafted Mahomes he would have eventually ran the same kind of similar offense they ran in Kansas City with the arrival of Nagy. Trubisky did well in 2018 with a limited amount of Matt Nagy’s play book. We know Patrick Mahomes thrives in that system, just by career numbers out of three door prizes of the 2017 draft.

Would the double doink of a kick still have happened from Cody Parky in the playoff game between the Bears and Eagles with Patrick Mahomes as your QB? I thought the Bears left a few wins on the field in 2018. Including the opener where Green Bay came back in the 4th quarter in that game the Bears had won, but Aaron Rodgers put up yet another miracle come \back. Does Patrick Mahomes extend drives in that opening night in the second half and prevent Green Bay from making that come back? I think the Bears would have won more games in 2018 and had a first round bye and never faced Nick Foles and the Eagles. If they drafted Patrick Mahomes, they might have had the best defensive player with Khaili Mack and Mahomes, the best offensive player in the league in the same year. In 2018, people can easily blame the kicker. Mitch Trubisky had a good year, but he still was the weakest link. The defense was Superbowl caliber. Matt Nagy’s offense was impressive. Mahomes would be a game changer and the Bears coulda woulda turned into Superbowl champions. I still don’t know why the Bears gave up draft picks to the 49ers to move up one spot to only land Mitch Trubisky in 2017. If the 49ers wanted one of those quarterbacks, you still had two other choices. Would the 49ers actually pick Mitch Trubisky? Bears then would have probably passed on Mahomes and Watson and found something else in the draft if the 49ers wanted Trubisky. Maybe for Patrick Mahomes it is a blessing that the Bears did not pick him. In Chicago, quarterbacks and wide receivers come and immediately are put out to pasture. What if the Bears had their guy locked up for ten years not having to worry about the most important position on the field? When they did think they had their guy in the past, it was well wasted money extending a Jay Cutler.  Bringing back Sid Luckman would be a crazy idea. We should have cloned him back then. When it comes to being a Bears fan I feel like the Portland Trailblazers passing on Michael Jordan and picking Sam Bowie is the same brain trust who made that executive decision.