The Chicago Bears have spent months working to get Caleb Williams ready. Head coach Matt Eberflus made it clear from day one that the rookie would be the starter. He’s the #1 pick. No competition. No veteran mentor. The car was his. He would have to learn how to drive it as quickly as possible. To that end, the coaching staff laid out a plan to prepare him. It involved throwing the entire playbook at him right away while also practicing against the starting defense every day. There was no easing into this thing.
Based on reports from training camp, the process was a bumpy one. Williams would have really good stretches but, for the most part, struggled to find any traction in team drills. That left many wondering what to expect in his first action on Saturday against the Buffalo Bills. What they got was a pleasant surprise. The #1 overall pick looked in total control, going 4-of-7 for 95 yards with two dropped passes, a 13-yard scramble for a first down, and two scoring drives. Albert Breer of the MMQB asked Bills defenders about what they saw during that sequence.
Their responses tell a clear story.
A couple of Bills guys I talked to were pretty impressed with what they were faced with in Chicago Bears QB Caleb Williams—one went so far as to call him “the real deal.” In particular, his command in the huddle, pocket awareness, poise, accuracy and instincts stood out to them, which showed both growth, and that pieces of his collegiate game are translating quickly.
Caleb Williams passed his first test.
He only made one bad decision the entire game. It came on the throw to Rome Odunze deep inside Bears territory, which was almost intercepted. An illegal contact bailed him out, but he must learn to curb his aggressive tendencies back up so close to the goal line. Other than that, every throw made was put in a spot where only his guys had a shot at it. He also seemed to show the proper footwork and mechanics in the run game. He worked hard to sell fakes. Then, when the situation called for it, he put that Superman cape on to make a play.
Bears fans can’t ask for much more than that. Getting teammates and coaches excited is one thing. For Caleb Williams to immediately draw the intrigue of his opponents says a lot. What he did in that game wasn’t only about his talent. He showed all the signs of somebody who could play the position as a professional. That was the key thing. If he could learn to execute from the pocket, there was no limit to how good he could become. If he’s this far along already, the Bears are in great shape.
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I was just thinking about the other performances. Only Daniels had his reps against the 1s and his performance was pretty inspiring. The others played on average 20 more pass attempts than CW or Jayden against 2s, 3s, and 4s. CW is on pace for 380 yards in that game. But the other QBs including Milton and Penix were impressive, but which of them had more pressure to perform? Well, see how it plays out. But nothing about the performances has anything to do with how spectacular Williams looked nor should his performance take away from theirs. It wasn’t an… Read more »
My Kool-Aid is especially tasty today. I think the red zone plays were simple because Flus and Waldron decided not to show anything involving Kmet, Allen, or DJ down there. They accomplished what they wanted to do with two drives, both sustained for longer than we’ve seen in many Moons here in Chicago. Why give away any plays in the red zone? At that point, all they wanted to do was get the first unit off the field healthy. That’s my impression or story if you will. Sure, there were other possibilities, but take a look at the tape with… Read more »
Caleb Williams played well enough for Bears fans not be concerned at all with the significant success of the other QBs ftom the class of 2024: Bo Nix, Jayden Daniels, Michael Penix Jr., and of course JJ McCarthy. Amd Caleb even stole the thunder from Zacch Pickens’ sack and Gervon Dexter new “twister” technique (What the hell was he doing?). Austin Booker stays in predator mode — The rookie’s motor doesn’t stop; but even more importantly, he plays with “bad intentions” — none of his hustle is merely for show — it’s all predatory! He’s gonna make a lot of… Read more »
Caleb was just fine on Saturday, and I don’t write that to be dismissive, but rather to underscore that he left some meat on the bone and can get a hell of a lot better. Drive one saw a great play call from Waldron that led to a chunk play — the screen to Swift — and a couple of nice throws by Caleb. Then Waldron did his best Luke Getsy impression by crawling into his shell in the red zone and running the ball for some goddamn reason, which is more of a problem with the OC than it… Read more »
Even all the negative Nancies on here, were surprised at how good Williams was.