The Chicago Bears did so much groundwork before deciding to draft Caleb Williams. They understood how monumental it was to get that pick right. GM Ryan Poles was going to select his own quarterback, putting an end to the Justin Fields era. Most general managers only get one shot at this. It had to be the right player. His scouts had spent over two years watching Williams at Oklahoma and USC. They were convinced he was something special. His talent was obvious. Arm strength? Accuracy? Mobility? It was all there. What Poles needed to find out was what went on inside the quarterback’s head.
Talent alone wouldn’t succeed in Chicago. The Bears had seen that with Fields, Jay Cutler, and others. Playing in this city required a specific kind of mental toughness. They also needed to know if he had the mental capacity to absorb and process information at high speeds. For this, the organization took a somewhat unconventional route. According to Albert Breer of the MMQB, the team reached out to an acclaimed sports psychologist from the NBA for help.
So as soon as they locked in on Williams as the first pick, right around the combine, after accelerating the process of vetting him, they could start to dive in. The first step was getting together with Dr. Scott Goldman, a sports psychologist for the Golden State Warriors, who administers the AIQ intelligence test to prospects.
“I spent a lot of time with him,” Eberflus says. “I spent like an hour and a half just on how Caleb learns. He was telling me how he learns. I’d say, If we did this and we did this, would this be right for him? He was like, Eh, no.”
He’s been in the sports psychology field since 2007 at the University of Arizona. He eventually made his way to the NFL, where he worked with the Miami Dolphins (2017-2019) and Detroit Lions (2018-2021). Finally, in February of 2021, he joined the Warriors, where he helped them win their fourth NBA championship a year later. While he may not know how to build teams, he keenly understands what separates successful athletes from those who eventually fizzle out.
His clinical, educated perspective on Caleb Williams was likely a refreshing departure from the coaches and teammates the Bears had talked to for months. It gave Poles and Eberflus valuable insight on how they would be able to teach the quarterback to play at the NFL level. This has been a constant issue for regimes of the past. Not only did they often pick QBs not good enough for the pros, but they often had poor plans to develop them. Being so open-minded to seek help from outside your sport is a good sign.
