Despite seeing limited action in preseason games, Chicago Bears General Manager Ryan Poles is impressed with rookie quarterback Caleb Williams’ development.
Chicago Bears General Manager Ryan Poles had one mission this offseason — to do what he could to field a roster that can compete for the playoffs. When he was first hired, he spoke about progressing through the rebuild. Year 3 of the rebuild would be the time the team should take a big step forward.
Well, it looks at this time that he did that. He has improved the roster in all three phases. Last season, the Chicago Bears’ defense was one of the stingiest in the league after a slow start. Poles re-signed key players and brought in strong players in the hopes that the unit would become a top-five defense.
Poles added a punter in Tory Taylor who could be a game-changer. Taylor could easily flip the field and help both the offense and defense with field position. With the always dependable Cairo Santos, the Chicago Bears have themselves two players with great kicking abilities.
What was most impressive about what Poles did this offseason was what he did with the offense. For the better part of two decades (or more), the Chicago Bears offense has struggled to move the ball and score points. Poles wanted to make sure that was no longer the case.
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Poles completely overhauled the offense. He brought in six-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Keenan Allen, tight end Gerald Allen, running back D’Andre Swift, along with several offensive linemen to solidify the offense. Then he went out and used his first three draft picks, including his two top-ten picks, on offensive players.
Of course, Poles’ first pick was quarterback Caleb Williams. Poles made all his moves to ensure that Williams succeeded. Williams was considered a “generational” talent so Poles made sure he had the offense fit for his abilities.
There is a lot of hope and expectations on young Williams’ shoulders. The team has spent its entire history (over a century) looking for a quarterback like Williams. Many feel that Poles found him.
During training camp, Williams has had an up-and-down time. Being a rookie, that was expected. Additionally, he is going up against a defense looking to show it is among the elite units in the NFL. The defensive players are not taking it easy on the rookie quarterback. They have high hopes for him as well. They feel the harder they go after Williams, the quicker he develops.
When Williams is on, he displays everything Poles and the Chicago Bears feel makes him such a great talent. He makes throws that not many quarterbacks, let alone rookies, can make. He also makes some decisions that lead to big plays. The Chicago Bears fans are optimistic that WIlliams can soon break records.
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Poles is comfortable with his decision on Williams
It appears that Williams’ preseason time is over. The Chicago Bears announced that the starters will not play in the team’s final preseason game against the Kansas City Chiefs. With training camp winding down, that means the next time we see Williams will be Week 1 on September 8th when everything he and the offense do counts.
So far, despite Williams’ limited action, Poles feels very good about his development. He loves the way Williams is handling things so far. He sees WIlliams moving straight up.
We talk about the journey isn’t always linear, but he has taken a pretty linear developmental path thus far. So what you love is he takes feedback. He wants feedback. He learns from every moment in practice, in games, and just continues to get better and better.
Poles and the Chicago Bears loved what they saw from Williams on film. What they wanted to see was how he reacted when the lights came on. While what happened so far has not counted, Williams has shown that the spotlight does not bother him. He looks like he was built for it and the pressure. Poles loves that.
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When the lights turn on in the stadium, it’s just a very different atmosphere than at practice. Is it going to elevate or is it going to kind of crumble to the pressure? And for him, everything almost seemed to slow down a little bit when the games came around.
You need to see it play out in real life. You’re just projecting at that point, and he’s done such a good job really exceeding those expectations in terms of his passion for the game…and just hungry to be the absolute best that he can be. So he’s really impressed me with his approach so far.
Poles and the Chicago Bears feel great about the decision to bring in Williams. The rookie quarterback has gotten a crash course in learning this offense. Having one of the top defenses in the league also helps. Like he said in a recent episode of Hard Knocks, the game is not as hard as practice. Poles hopes that is true during the regular season.
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