From the start, the Chicago Bears made it clear that there would be no easing into things for Caleb Williams. He won’t have a veteran to compete with or play in front of him as he learns from the bench. They’d tried that before and it failed. Williams will be the starter from day one. They accept it will likely be a turbulent first few months as he acclimates to the NFL level, but it will ultimately help him develop faster. That is why they spent OTAs and minicamps throwing the entire playbook at him. Nothing is off-limits. Head coach Matt Eberflus added to this by ensuring he practices against the starting defense. If he’s going to learn to handle the NFL, he needs to see what actual defenses will look like.
Nobody would’ve been surprised if the #1 overall pick struggled through those sessions. That is a lot for any young quarterback to handle. However, it appears there was nothing to worry about. Sure, there were a few mistakes here and there, but according to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN, Williams got away with a lot more than everybody expected. Despite taking plenty of risks, several of his throws still connected. It demonstrated just how impressive his arm talent and accuracy really is.
For those who remember, this was a persistent talking point during Fields’ rookie year. While his arm talent would flash from time to time, he also had a bad habit of throwing interceptions. Keep in mind that a lot of that came against the Bears’ second-team defense in practice. People tried to shrug it off at the time, believing it was part of the learning process. In hindsight, it may have been an early red flag. Thankfully, it appears Williams hasn’t fallen into the same trap despite a tougher slate of challenges.
Day by day, it becomes clearer why the Bears zeroed in on him. His talent was obvious, but his ability to learn quickly has stood out the most. Even when he does make a mistake, he learns why it happened and isn’t prone to making it again. The fact the #1 defense has actively tried everything to counter him from the start, and it hasn’t resulted in sheer domination, is telling. Caleb Williams isn’t phased. His self-confidence and leadership ability are already having an impact on the locker room.
