Mitch Trubisky placed in scary backup QB tier heading into 2024

There are not many teams in the NFL that can say that they have an elite quarterback on their roster. While there are a bunch of solid B+ type of quarterbacks, they can only do so much before their game becomes limited. Players like Dak Prescott, Baker Mayfield, and Tua Tagovailoa have a good amount of talent but they have limitations to their game that can hold a team back.

The Buffalo Bills have been blessed with Josh Allen since 2018. Sure, he had his growing pains but no one thinks about those days because of the player he has become. He is in the top three-to-top five conversation when it comes to the top quarterbacks in the league. The only quarterback that is above him respectfully is Patrick Mahomes.

Without Allen, the Bills offense becomes heavily limited. Up to this point in his career, Allen has only missed four games in his rookie season. Since then, he has played every single game. However, we all know that all it takes is one slip up for Allen to be out of the game. While he has been more careful with how he plays the game, accidents happen all the time.

If the Bills were to ever lose Allen for a significant amount of time, there is a chance that they wouldn't win more than a handful of games just because of the backup quarterback situation.

Buffalo has had a revolving door of backups for Allen and heading into this season, it is once again Mitch Trubisky, who was Allen’s backup in 2021. Maurice Moton from Bleacher Report made a list of various tiers when it came to each team’s backup and how successful a team would be should the starter go down.

Trubisky finds himself in the 5th tier (out of six tiers), which is labeled as “backups who should strictly be game managers”. Along with Trubisky, Josh Johnson, Jarrett Stidham, Taylor Heinicke, Marcus Mariota and Cooper Rush were placed into this tier.

"Trubisky and Mariota have extensive playing experience, mostly as starters, but they have struggled over the previous two years. Last season, the Steelers benched Trubisky for third-stringer Mason Rudolph, who helped lead them to the playoffs. In 2022, Mariota lost his job to Desmond Ridder."

- Maurice Moton, Bleacher Report

The Bills would heavily struggle under Mitch Trubisky

It really is disappointing to see Trubisky fall down from being the No. 2 overall pick in 2017 to now being a career backup. Not to mention, he was taken over Patrick Mahomes in that draft too. The start to his career with the Chicago Bears turned him into a backup quarterback. While he had a winning record, he was unfortunately someone that teams didn’t fear.

In Buffalo’s offense, he has similar athletic traits as Allen but not the overall talent. His arm strength is nowhere near the same, and his playmaking ability is down a level or two. This past preseason, Trubisky was horrendous at times inside the pocket.

Putting Trubisky in the range of “true game managers” isn’t the worst setup for Buffalo, but it sure isn’t the best. After this upcoming season, the Bills need to strongly consider using a draft backup on a quarterback that can develop behind Allen for four years.