Mitchell David Trubisky ( troo-BISS-kee; born August 20, 1994) is an American professional football quarterback for the Tennessee Titans of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the North Carolina Tar Heels, receiving third-team All-ACC honors in 2016. Trubisky was selected second overall by the Chicago Bears in the 2017 NFL draft.
As the Bears' starting quarterback for four seasons, Trubisky's most successful year was in 2018 when he led the team to their first division title since 2010, earning him Pro Bowl honors. He also helped Chicago make the playoffs a second time in 2020. Due to inconsistent play, he was not re-signed by the Bears when his rookie contract expired the following year. After one year as a backup with the Buffalo Bills, Trubisky spent two seasons alternating as the starter and backup with Pittsburgh Steelers before rejoining the Bills for two more seasons as a backup. Trubisky joined the Titans in 2026.
Trubisky was born in Mentor, Ohio, on August 20, 1994. He attended Mentor High School where he played for the Cardinals football team. During his high school football career, he passed for 9,126 yards and 92 touchdowns and rushed for 1,559 career yards and 33 touchdowns. He was the recipient of the Ohio Mr. Football Award in 2012. Trubisky committed to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to play college football under head coach Larry Fedora.
Trubisky redshirted for his first year at North Carolina in 2013. He played in ten games as a backup to starter Marquise Williams in 2014. He made his collegiate debut in relief of Williams against the Liberty Flames in a 56–29 victory. In the game, he completed 10 pasees of 16 attempts for 66 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He threw his first career touchdown to tight end Jack Tabb in the third quarter.
Trubisky appeared in North Carolina's bowl game at the end of the season against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. In the 2014 Quick Lane Bowl, he was 7-of-9 for 65 yards and a touchdown, which was a pass to receiver Kendrick Singleton, in the 40–21 loss to the Scarlet Knights. For his freshman season he completed 42-of-78 passes for 459 yards, five touchdowns, and four interceptions.
As a sophomore, Trubisky again served as the backup to Williams, appearing in nine games in the 2015 season. He made his season debut against the North Carolina A&T Aggies. In the game, he was 5-of-7 for 37 yards and a touchdown. In addition, he had a 35-yard rushing touchdown in the 53–14 victory. He had a career day against the Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens on September 26. He was 17-of-20 for 312 yards and four touchdowns in the 41–14 victory. He made an appearance in the ACC Championship Game against the Clemson Tigers, completing a single pass for 16 yards. For the season, he completed 40-of-47 passes for 555 yards and six touchdowns and rushed 16 times for 101 yards and three touchdowns.
As a junior, Trubisky took over as the starting quarterback in 2016. He started in all 13 games in the 2016 season. In the season-opening 33–24 loss to the Georgia Bulldogs, he was 24-of-40 for 156 yards. He added three rushes for seven yards and one touchdown. In the following week against the Illinois Fighting Illini, he had 265 passing yards and two touchdowns. In addition, he had nine rushes for 42 yards and two rushing touchdowns in the 48–23 victory. Two weeks later against the Pittsburgh Panthers, he had a career-day through the air. He was 35-of-46 for 453 yards and five touchdowns in the 37–36 victory. On November 5, against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, he had his first career reception, which was for eight yards. In the 2016 Sun Bowl against the Stanford Cardinal, he was 23-of-39 for 280 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions in his final collegiate game, a 25–23 loss. He recorded 3,748 passing yards with 30 touchdowns and six interceptions in his junior season. As a result of his successful junior season, he was named a member of the third-team All-ACC. Trubisky decided to forgo his senior season and declared for the 2017 NFL draft on January 9, 2017, opting to give up his final year of college eligibility.
Coming out of college, Trubisky was projected to be a first-round pick by the majority of scouts and analysts.
ESPN and Pro Football Focus (PFF) ranked Trubisky the second best quarterback, NFLDraftScout.com ranked him as the top quarterback in the draft, and Sports Illustrated ranked him the fourth best quarterback available.
Trubisky was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the first round with the second overall pick in the 2017 NFL draft. He was the highest-selected quarterback in the draft. The Bears moved up from the third overall pick by trading the San Francisco 49ers two third-round picks and a fourth-round pick.
During the 2017 preseason, Trubisky recorded the third-highest passer rating of the 29 quarterbacks with at least 50 passes with 106.2, along with three touchdowns and no interceptions. Despite his strong preseason, he was named the backup to Mike Glennon for the 2017 regular season.
After the Bears started the season with a 1–3 record, head coach John Fox benched Glennon and Trubisky was named the starter for Week 5. Trubisky made his first regular season start on October 9, 2017, against the Minnesota Vikings, where he completed 12-of-25 passes for 128 yards, a touchdown, and an interception, as the Bears lost 20–17 on Monday Night Football. His first career touchdown was a 20-yard pass to tight end Zach Miller. In his next start, he completed 8-of-16 passes, including a touchdown and a critical completion in overtime that set up a game-winning field goal in a 27–24 win over the Baltimore Ravens. During Week 7 against the Carolina Panthers, Trubisky was limited to 107 passing yards, but with the defense forcing three turnovers and two defensive touchdowns, the Bears won by a score of 17–3.
In Week 12, Trubisky completed 17 for 33 passes for 147 yards and two interceptions en route to a 31–3 loss against the Philadelphia Eagles. The following week, Trubisky completed 12-of-15 passes for 102 yards and a touchdown against the 49ers, but a late field goal by Robbie Gould lifted the 49ers to a 15–14 victory. During Week 14, however, he completed 25-of-32 passes for 271 yards and a touchdown to seal a 33–7 blowout win over the Cincinnati Bengals, snapping a five-game losing streak as well as posting a 112.4 passer rating. In Week 15, he struggled against the Detroit Lions; despite finishing with 314 passing yards and a touchdown, he also threw three interceptions as the Bears lost 20–10. In the next game, a 20–3 victory over the Cleveland Browns, Trubisky threw for 193 yards; increasing his season passing yard total to 2,015, the most by a rookie in Bears history. In the regular season finale, a 23–10 loss to the Minnesota Vikings, he had 178 passing yards and no interceptions.
Trubisky ended his rookie season with a 4–8 record in 12 starts, seven touchdown passes, and seven interceptions. He also ran for 248 yards, the most by a Bears quarterback since Kordell Stewart in 2003.
Fox was fired after the 2017 season and was replaced by Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy, who expressed an interest in working with Trubisky after the two met prior to the 2017 draft. General manager Ryan Pace made it an off-season priority to build the Bears' offense around Trubisky, the team signed wide receivers Allen Robinson and Taylor Gabriel and tight end Trey Burton over the 2018 off-season. Despite Trubisky having a slow start to the 2018 regular season in which he threw just two touchdown passes in the first three games, the Bears managed a 2–1 start through the first three weeks.
Success came in week 4 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers: he completed 19-of-26 passes for 354 yards, threw for six touchdowns (five in the first half), and got a passer rating of 154.7. Chicago won by a score of 48–10; the six touchdowns were one short of the Bears franchise record set by Sid Luckman in 1943. Trubisky became the first Bears quarterback to throw five touchdowns in a half since Johnny Lujack in 1949, and he was the second player in NFL history to have five different players catch a touchdown pass in a game since Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers against the Bears. He was named the FedEx Air Player of the Week for his performance.