The Chicago Bears selected Caleb Williams as the #1 overall pick in the 2024 draft last April. Almost every draft expert agreed it was the right move. Most saw the former Heisman winner as the best prospect in the class, a ready-made franchise quarterback. Expectations have only grown since then. Many feel Williams is poised for a strong first season, with some even predicting he will get them to the playoffs. However, not everybody is on board the hype train. A couple of former players believe his season will be shaky.
Former defensive tackle Booger McFarland and former linebacker Bart Scott discussed the topic on ESPN Get Up. McFarland stated his belief that Williams would struggle while Jayden Daniels, the #2 pick in Washington, would find immediate success. His reasoning? Mainly because that is what happened last year with Bryce Young and C.J. Stroud. If that weren’t baffling enough, Scott piled on by saying he was unconvinced head coach Matt Eberflus could develop a quarterback better than Kliff Kingsbury. Of course, he didn’t bother to recall Kingsbury is the offensive coordinator in Washington, not the head coach.
Caleb Williams is not remotely close to Young’s situation last year.
First of all, McFarland completely disregards the supporting casts. Young had minimal help around him, especially at wide receiver, with a 33-year-old Adam Thielen being his best target. Meanwhile, Williams will have D.J. Moore, Keenan Allen, and Rome Odunze as his top three options. Chicago also has a more stable offensive line, headlined by Braxton Jones and Darnell Wright at tackle. As for Scott, if he wants to compare QB developers, it should be Kingsbury against new Bears offensive coordinator Shane Waldron.
In that case, Chicago has just as strong a situation as Washington. Waldron did a tremendous job in Seattle coaching Geno Smith and helping him make the Pro Bowl in 2022. Before that, he helped Jared Goff morph into an eventual Pro Bowler with the Rams. Eberflus may have a role in Caleb Williams’ development, but it isn’t fair to pin Justin Fields’ failures on him. He didn’t have any say in drafting the former Bears quarterback, and recent rumors out of Pittsburgh suggest he chose correctly by making a change.
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There is a possibility Williams could struggle this year. Rookies do that. However, if you’re going to make that case, try to form an argument that actually makes sense.
@David, you can probably add the guy that’s hyping Bobby Slowik to the Bears into the mix for most dumb comment, too. He very well may get a head coaching job but the bears won’t make the mistake of starting a whole new regime in Williams’ second year. The funny thing is the female was the one making the most sense and the video cut her off mid stream.
Our sophomore year, Sheila the Second Chair Oboe player, got her hair cut into a “Bob” style. Her hair was brown, and her head was shaped like a football if I squinted my eyes just right. When I wasn’t tasked to play, I used to practice my diamond technique catching with Sheila’s head. All visualization, of course, except one time I did get caught up in the moment when we were playing “Livin’ on a Prayer”, and I plucker her head in right on the TD marker. You can’t cover me, Brenda. All Day. Anyway, that qualifies me as being… Read more »
Taking Booger’s take is to literally pick a booger. Most idiots will think his take looks good enough to swallow and will. This just proves that 99% of those making comments on anything these days will take path that garners the most headlines. Why pick the consensus top pick the draft who has two exceptional receivers, the #9 pick and an up and coming TE to throw to? Or the team (Bears) that didn’t get their pick by actually sucking badly enough to warrant the 2nd pick in the draft last season? It’s not flashy enough. I’ll take the 7-10… Read more »
Ha! I’ve found that the the “experts” are full of hot air. The average beer swiling, loppy eared, bar stool prognostics have better insight than the guys that get paid for it… whaaaat!
@David Booger is not dumb, but perhaps mistaken, ignorantly not-knowing, or simply in error. Get woke! If his name was David Aaron Getz, would you call him dumb on a Friday night? I doubt it.