Caleb Williams stepped into a tricky situation. He was replacing a quarterback that was popular in the Chicago Bears locker room. Justin Fields had won over his teammates in the previous two years, thanks to his toughness, work ethic, and steady improvement. They felt he was the leader they needed. It felt like this was another case of Kyle Orton and Jay Cutler. Chicago chased the more talented passer without vetting whether he was actually a good fit for the locker room. Williams was in danger of encountering the same issues if he didn’t handle the situation delicately. By most accounts, he has succeeded. Cole Kmet was the latest to voice this.
The Bears’ tight end is coming off the best all-around season of his career. If anybody was unhappy to see Fields go, it would be him. However, he’s also a realist. The NFL is a business. If you don’t win, your odds of sticking around weaken, especially for quarterbacks. Williams hasn’t come in with any sense of entitlement. Kmet stated on SiriusXM NFL radio that he’s carried himself like just another one of the guys. He’s a teammate, nothing more. His time as leader will come, but there is no rush. In their short time, Kmet has noticed one thing about Williams. It’s the same word others have used to describe him.
“That whole draft process was so interesting just because you’re hearing all these different things about him. But as I got to know him, and everyone else got to know him, he’s really just a normal dude. A really good kid. Ultra-competitive. And you can see why he’s been so successful thus far in his football career and why he has the types of intangibles to succeed in the NFL. I’m really excited for him. He’s been putting in a lot of work and you can see the progress he was making throughout the OTA period, so I’m really excited about him.
Obviously, ultra-talented. I think as the people of Chicago get to know him more and more, the more they’ll get to like him.”
That is the first step for any quarterback to achieve anything in this league. Being talented is one thing. You have to be almost maniacal in your work ethic and attention to detail if you’re going to challenge NFL defenses. Williams fits the bill. He’s in the building early, leaves late, and constantly harasses coaches about the playbook. The interesting part is he doesn’t just ask questions about the structure of a player. He asked what the meaning behind each one of them was. He wants to know the “whys,” as the coaches like to say. Not many young quarterbacks bother with that.
If there is anything players respect, it is someone’s drive to be great. Cole Kmet is no different. He was relatively inexperienced as a tight end when he got to the NFL. Through relentless work, he morphed into a good player who earned a contract extension last year. Williams seems to have that same focus. He hates losing more than he loves winning. As counterintuitive as that may sound, it is a better trait for somebody to have at the professional level.
