It was bad enough that Caleb Williams had to watch fellow rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels — drafted second in April after the Bears took Williams at No. 1 — outshine him in Chicago as he leads the Commanders toward the playoffs and sprints away with Offensive Rookie of the Year. But the other first-round picks also have dealt some gut punches.
Patriots quarterback Drake Maye, the No. 3 pick and Williams’ longtime pal, came to Soldier Field last month and left with a 19-3 win after outplaying Williams.
The Broncos’ Bo Nix, a former Pac-12 rival of Williams, was the last quarterback taken in the first round at No. 12 and has made more progress than Williams as he leads the rookies with 20 touchdown passes.
Daniels and Nix have opportunities to clinch playoff spots this week. Williams will have to watch them on TV next month as he waits for a new coach amid a major Bears reset that probably will include substantial overhauling of the roster.
Two of the quarterbacks picked in the first round haven’t even gotten going yet. Michael Penix (No. 8), who was just named the Falcons’ starter going forward, and the Vikings’ J.J. McCarthy (No. 10) likely will enter the race next season.
There has been both good and bad in Williams’ rookie season, and Bears general manager Ryan Poles owes some explanations for a poor coaching staff and offensive line, but the hard truth is that Williams wasn’t as NFL-ready as he or most others thought.
Daniels not only leads the rookies with a 101.2 passer rating and 70.5 completion percentage — he’s top-10 in the NFL in both. Williams is third in his class with an 87.7 passer rating, fourth in completion percentage (61.9) and tied for second with Daniels with 17 touchdown passes despite joining a more talented roster than any of the other rookies did.
Williams has thrown the fewest interceptions (five) and is third in the league with picks on just 1.1% of his passes, but that’s partly because of an overly conservative approach. In the 30-12 loss to the Vikings on Monday, he threw more than five yards past the line of scrimmage just once in the first half before opening it up somewhat in the second.
Williams described his season as “frustrating and encouraging” after the game. The bothersome parts include his poor play at times, the Bears’ eight-game losing streak and 4-10 record and the firings of coach Matt Eberflus and offensive coordinator Shane Waldron last month.
Although it’s a long game and Williams will have at least three seasons to prove himself, the story of this season has been written. The Bears’ remaining games are more of an epilogue than anything else. Everything has deteriorated so badly that they can’t even be certain these games will be a helpful lead-in for next season.
While Williams has shown more potential than the Bears’ previous first-round quarterbacks, Justin Fields and Mitch Trubisky, he didn’t look much better against the Vikings than he did in Week 2 against the Texans. He completed 18 of 31 passes for 191 yards and a meaningless late touchdown for an 86.9 passer rating. The offense went 1-for-12 on third downs and didn’t score until a field goal halfway through the third quarter — a thudding disappointment after initially having first-and-goal at the 1-yard line.
That calls into question how much Williams has actually developed and whether the next coach will essentially have him starting from scratch. Williams has seen a lot, playing 936 snaps and dropping back 523 times, but has that made him any better?
Indecision is still an issue, and that’s the biggest concern. Every rookie quarterback walks in with talent — Williams more than most, perhaps — but the ones who solve the ever-changing puzzle of NFL defensive schemes are the ones who flourish.
Williams missed open receivers Monday, as ESPN broadcaster and Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman called out. Waiting too long in the pocket also is part of the equation on his league-high 58 sacks.
“He’s slow to anticipate, slow to react, and that’s the difference between punting the football or picking up a first down,” Aikman said after Williams didn’t throw to an open Rome Odunze on a third-and-four.
Williams said afterward he had some bruises and was fatigued — and he looked it.
“You can tell he’s a defeated guy. What you worry about is a rookie quarterback losing confidence,” Aikman said.
Williams would dispute that, but after the game he looked and sounded flatter than usual. He’s picking up the pieces, trying to sort out how he ended up here and what to do about it. Meanwhile, two of his peers are looking eagerly toward the playoffs.
