Chris Simms ranks Mitch Trubisky as the 20th-best QB in the NFL

Chris Simms, NBC Sports football analyst and former NFL quarterback, wrapped up his top-40 QB countdown and Mitch Trubisky landed right in the middle of his list.

Simms placed Trubisky in the No. 20 spot — right in between No. 19 Jared Goff and No. 21 Jimmy Garoppolo.

Trubisky’s ranking was the third best among QBs in his draft class — 18 spots behind Patrick Mahomes and 15 spots behind Deshaun Watson.

Simms doesn’t think Trubisky hurts the Bears’ Super Bowl aspirations.

He believes Trubisky catches unnecessary flack because he was the first QB taken in the 2017 NFL Draft.

“A lot of the hate that’s thrown out towards him is all because Deshaun Watson and Patrick Mahomes were drafted after him,” Simms said on “Chris Simms Unbuttoned”. “That’s not his fault. You can win a Super Bowl with Trubisky.”

Trubisky has taken a no-days-off approach since the Bears wrapped up minicamp and is ready to take another leap heading into his third season in the NFL.

He proved to be one of the best dual-threat QBs in the league — landing in the top-20 in passing yards and top-5 in rushing yards for QBs during the 2018 season.

“You can certainly talk about him as one of the best running quarterbacks in football,” Simms said. “When he tucks it, he is a real threat to gain big-time yards.”

Trubiksy provided reasons to be optimistic about his development.

He recorded the third-best total QBR during the 2018 season after ranking 29th during his rookie season, according to ESPN.

Trubisky made improvements as a passer during his second year in the league. His completion percentage jumped up over seven points and he doubled his touchdown percentage.

“Is the throwing perfect? No, it’s not,” Simms said. “But it’s year two, he just led a team that was 12-4 to the NFC playoffs and in the biggest drive of the year he made some big throws.”