It is amazing to see the attitudes of Chicago Bears wide receivers transform upon the arrival of Caleb Williams. Before being drafted, D.J. Moore was skeptical of the eventual #1 pick. He firmly supported Justin Fields and didn’t think the Bears needed a change at QB. Keenan Allen had no idea where he stood when the team traded for him in March. He’d spent his entire career with star quarterbacks like Philip Rivers and Justin Herbert. Chicago has never had anything like that in its history. Yet, over the past few months, both have morphed into almost fanatical supporters of Williams.
Moore quickly signed a four-year contract extension despite two years left on his current deal. Allen has also increased his efforts to work with the team on an extension. That clearly indicates they both want to be around for the young quarterback’s growth. However, they have also learned that Williams can be a bit of an instigator. He was asked by Dan Wiederer of the Chicago Tribune what he does to connect with and lead his teammates.
It’s getting around them, hanging around them. That helps me. Whether it’s, “How do you like this (ball) thrown? How do you like that thrown?” I’ve asked them questions about their life, questions about how they’ve grown up, questions about their family. It’s things like that. Just getting to know them on that level, I think, helps tremendously.
Then there may be times where I’m not trying to necessarily push their buttons to be mad at me. But, like, I may send Rome (Odunze) a text message of things people have said about him. And he’ll remember. He’ll doc it down and remember that. I’ll talk a little trash to Keenan to get him going. It’s just small things like that. Getting to know your guys helps and leads in a tremendous way.
This is an underrated trait for quarterbacks. Most of them only know how to motivate one way or another. A select few understand that what pushes one teammate may not work on another. Williams already understands this. He knows Odunze responds best to outside criticism. He knows talking trash to Allen gets him all riled up. It takes a keen understanding of psychology to recognize these things. For a 22-year-old to know this stuff is beyond impressive. Then again, this shouldn’t be a surprise. Williams majored in communication during his time at USC. He knew what he was doing.
It feels like the first time hearing something like this about a Bears quarterback. Others have earned high marks for their leadership. Kyle Orton, Jim Miller, Erik Kramer, and Jim McMahon stand out. However, Caleb Williams feels like the first one to have a clear grasp of every single one of his teammates. They aren’t just tools for him to use. They’re people who must be cultivated the right way in order to get the most out of their talents. If that requires being a troublemaker at times, so be it.
