Caleb Williams is not your typical quarterback. He doesn’t simply tune out the noise surrounding him. He seeks it out. The Chicago Bears 1st round pick has a strong presence on social media, regularly finding critics and haters. He doesn’t do it so he can shout them down for being ignorant or stupid. He uses it as fuel for motivation. The more public criticism he gets, the hotter his fires burn to prove them wrong. Lots of competitors feel that way. Well, ESPN may have just done him a favor.
Jeremy Fowler reached out to several NFL executives and scouts, asking them who they believe will win the major awards this season. On the surface, it appears they have high expectations for Williams since he claimed the Offensive Rookie of the Year award. However, it came with a few comments that aren’t likely to flatter the Bears quarterback. For one, they feel #2 overall pick Jayden Daniels has just as good of a chance to win it. For another, the only reasons they think Williams will win it is because he has a better supporting cast and plays for an organization with a tortured history at quarterback.
Offensive Rookie of the Year: Caleb Williams, QB, Chicago Bears
Williams and Washington’s Jayden Daniels received the same amount of votes, with Williams winning the tiebreaker to carry this category.
Some voters like Daniels’ overall 2024 outlook, especially as a calm pocket passer who can take off for easy yards. But the situations around them matter.
“Caleb has the better supporting cast right now, which should bring the best out of him,” an NFC exec said. “And with Chicago’s struggles offensively over the years, if he has any sort of success in Year 1, he’ll get the sentimental vote.”
Remember, this is the guy who arrived at Oklahoma as a freshman and immediately felt he was superior to entrenched starter Spencer Rattler. Despite discouragement from his coaches to wait his turn, he kept working hard. Sure enough, he got into a game that year trailing big against Texas. One historic comeback later, and the Williams hype machine was off and running. While he may have respect for Jayden Daniels as a player, make no mistake. There is no way he accepts the idea the two of them are on the same level.
This kid models himself after Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady. His self-confidence is through the roof. The fact that people around the NFL think he’s on the same tier as the guy picked after him in the draft is an insult. Chicago didn’t even hesitate when given the chance to pick either of them. It was Caleb Williams from the jump. After all, he did more with a lot less at USC than Daniels did at LSU. No doubt he plans to use small slights like this to push himself even harder.
