Chicago Bears head coach Matt Ebeflus has a smart plan to get Caleb Williams up to speed in the NFL as quickly as possible. Eberflus wasted no time in waiting to name Williams the starting quarterback. Williams was QB1 on the depth chart before he threw a pass at rookie minicamp.
Caleb Williams has had an okay spring
Williams’s performance during OTAs was a roller-coaster. He flashed impressive arm abilities. However, he’s struggling to take snaps and hasn’t learned to deal with pressure yet. That’s not uncommon for a rookie, but Williams isn’t supposed to be a common rookie.
Many coaches with rookie quarterbacks ease their quarterbacks into their rotation. Drake Maye with the New England Patriots and J.J. McCarthy with the Minnesota Vikings started out getting third-team reps. Other coaches might have let Williams practice against the second-team defense to let the rookie gain confidence before against the first team.
The Chicago Bears want to test Williams
Williams has shown his best work during the 7-on-7 drill. He hasn’t been able to translate that success into the team period. But that’s okay.
According to Dan Wiederer and Colleen Kane of the Chicago Tribune, Eberflus said he trusts Williams to learn from his mistakes against the Bears defense so he can thrive against opponent’s first-team defenses this season:
But later there were several incompletions in a full-team period when Williams went up against the first-team defense, as he has for much of the offseason. Eberflus said pitting Williams against the Bears starters will be beneficial, and it will be taken up a notch in training camp when the Bears have padded practices.
“Caleb is a talent, a very good talent,” Eberflus said. “His game will go to where it needs to be. I want him to see that in front of him, the windows closing, the variation of what we do on defense, and I want him to see that day in and day out so that when he gets to play somebody else, it will look like, ‘OK, I’ve been there, done that.’ That’s how we’re going to keep it.”
Williams has the mental strength for the plan to work
Eberflus, who has won 10 games in two seasons with the Bears, is depending on Williams to win games this year. That will mean Williams will have to thread the needle in tight windows all season. Eberflus wouldn’t do Williams and the Bears any favors by allowing him to practice against second-team competition he won’t see on game day.
Williams seems up for the task of handling the adversity. Despite his early trials in the league, Williams believes the offense will be good this season and there is light at the end of the tunnel. Williams’ determination could be a better asset than his arm, and that’s the stuff the best quarterbacks are made of.
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