Is Mitch Trubisky the next Eli Manning?

With all the recent controversy revolving around Eli Manning, and the end of his career drawing near, I thought I should take an in-depth look into how similar, or not, Mitchell Trubisky is to Eli Manning.

I noticed that both quarterbacks have the same number 10 jersey, and both of their measurables being approximately around 6’4” and 220 lbs. Eli Manning was the first overall pick in the 2004 NFL Draft. Trubisky was the second overall pick and the first quarterback taken in the 2017 NFL Draft. Both quarterbacks were part of a stable of young promising quarterbacks available. Eli Manning was chosen over Phillip Rivers and Ben Roethlisberger. Trubisky was taken before Deshaun Watson, Patrick Mahomes II, and Deshone Kizer.

Not a bad list of quarterbacks to choose from in either draft, but Manning and Trubisky were seen as the franchise quarterback that their team needed. We all know however that Manning was traded to the Giants in exchange for Phillip Rivers and a couple of draft picks.

Unfortunately for this article, Eli Manning did not attend the NFL Combine. Thus, I am unable to compare the combine stats against each other. Although, we all would agree that Trubisky falls more in line with the new wave of quarterbacks who are better athletes who can, usually, be effective passing or running the ball. But now let us dive more into their statistics.

The first stats I compared were from the quarterback’s final college seasons, and what I found surprise me. Both quarterbacks played all 13 games in their final season. In Manning’s last season at Ole Miss, he completed 62.4 percent of passes for 3,600 yards, 29 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. Manning also had 48 rush attempts for negative-28 yards and three touchdowns. Trubisky’s passing stats were eerily similar; he had a completion percentage of 68.0, 3,748 yards, 30 touchdowns and six interceptions. Trubisky’s rushing stats stood out the most in this comparison, but were not surprising. Trubisky had 93 rush attempts for 308 yards, 3.3-yard average per rush, and five touchdowns.

Even though Trubisky has only played a few games so far, both quarterbacks did not start the season as the team’s starter so I feel we can still make the comparison. Eli Manning sat behind Kurt Warner and did not get his first career start until Nov. 21 of his rookie season, Week 11 against the Atlanta Falcons. Manning lost his first career start 14-10.

Manning started a total of seven games his rookie season and only won one game. His season totals were 95/197, 48.2 completion percentage, for 1,043 yards, six touchdowns and nine interceptions. Manning also had six rush attempts for 35 yards. As of this writing, Trubisky has started eight games and won two of them. Trubisky’s season totals so far are 106/193, 54.9 completion percentage, for 1,237 yards, five touchdowns, and four interceptions. Trubisky also has 29 rush attempts, for 194 yards.

Eli Manning would, of course, go on to become a multiple-Super Bowl-winning quarterback,winning Super Bowl MVP on both trips. He did not win a title, however, until his fourth season. Although Trubisky and the Bears have not been successful in his first year as far as wins go, this is proof that given time, good coaching and the right supporting cast, a good quarterback can become a great one. Based on all of the information listed above, Eli Manning is a great comparison for Mitchell Trubisky, and Manning is definitely a role model for all young quarterbacks to strive to become. I think given time Trubisky can live up to the challenge.

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