Caleb Williams became the Chicago Bears’ choice at #1 overall months before the draft. GM Ryan Poles and head coach Matt Eberflus felt he had the arm talent, athleticism, intelligence, and emotional maturity to handle playing quarterback for this franchise. Thus far, there have been no signs of concern. Williams has looked good in training camp despite the typical rookie hiccups. What stands out is how well he’s handling the difficult transition to playing under center and using cadences. He didn’t do any of that in college. Unsurprisingly, it has led to mistakes.
Has this flustered Williams? Nope. Coaches and teammates alike say his demeanor never changes. The guy moves on to the next rep. One thing that has caught some by surprise is the quarterback’s approach to learning the offense. Most rookies ask the obvious questions about where their reads are and what adjustments to make. Not Williams. Coaches told Dan Wiederer of the Chicago Tribune that he takes it way further by asking about every single detail.
As early as rookie minicamp in May, Joseph learned to have his phone nearby deep into the night, awaiting the next text buzz with a question or thought from Williams. The rookie wanted to know why this specific play was being blocked as it was, why the progressions were ordered in the way they were, why a certain route combination had been designed.
Why, why, why.
The Bears have also talked extensively about establishing a firm chain of command with Williams, relaying just about everything through Waldron and Joseph. The former will be responsible for providing big-picture insight on the offensive system, defensive looks and situational football, while the latter will focus heavily on fundamentals and footwork.
People often forget there was a point in time where quarterback’s acted as the de facto offensive coordinator. They would call plays in the huddle themselves. Terry Bradshaw did it. Ken Stabler did it. Boomer Esiason did it. Coaches have all but eliminated this practice in recent years. While quarterbacks still get plenty of freedom within an offense, all of them still adhere to the plays called. Williams will likely be the same. However, he seems dead set on gaining that same level of mastery that previous greats had in the early Super Bowl era.
This is another reminder that Caleb Williams is not your normal rookie quarterback. Most would settle for being a good soldier. He absorbs the information and does his best to process it. Williams wants to take it a step further by taking full command of the system from the outset. He wants to control every aspect of what happens on the field. This isn’t because of some weird power trip. Once he knows how everything is supposed to go, he can make necessary adjustments to ensure every play has a good chance of working.
