Two rookie quarterbacks made starts in the wild card round on Sunday. Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix struggled in a 31-7 loss to the Buffalo Bills at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, New York.
Jayden Daniels went 24-of-35 passing for 268 yards and two touchdowns in the Washington Commanders’ 23-20 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in front of 64,614 fans at Raymond James Stadium. The No. 2 pick in the 2024 draft added 36 yards rushing to give Washington its first postseason when since the 2005 season.
Did the Chicago Bears make a mistake?
During an appearance on the 670 The Score’s “Mully & Haugh Show”, former NFL offensive lineman Ross Tucker was asked if the Chicago Bears made a mistake by taking Caleb Williams over Daniels. Tucker thought the Bears should have drafted Daniels.
“Yes, yeah. I would say yes,” Tucker said of the Bears making a mistake by taking Williams with the No. 1 pick. “Like I would, I would take Jayden Daniels 10 times out of 10 over Caleb Williams. Now, the reason why I say that is Jayden Daniels is already a top-10 quarterback in the NFL. Caleb is not a top-20 quarterback in the NFL, right? So unless Jayden Daniels takes a step back, what are the odds that Caleb can become a top-10 quarterback?”
Did the Bears draft the wrong quarterback?@RossTuckerNFL: “Yes, yeah, I would say yes. I would take Jayden Daniels 10 times out of 10 over Caleb Williams. Jayden Daniels is already a top-10 quarterback in the NFL.”
Listen to his full segment: https://t.co/gV0G7NJ7JE pic.twitter.com/36czBhbPyK
— 670 The Score (@670TheScore) January 13, 2025
Williams threw for the 17th-most passing yards (3,541) and the 15th-most touchdowns (20) in the regular season. He only threw six interceptions. Those aren’t bad stats for a rookie who was on a team that went through three different offensive coordinators and had two head coaches. (Not to mention the issues the offensive line had.)
Caleb Williams has some catching up to do
Tucker said things could change in year No. 2, as Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young appears to have made up ground with C.J. Stroud (after Young was benched) in 2024.
“Now that being said, the thing that’s in the Bears’ favor and in Caleb’s favor is last year I thought C.J. Stroud had the best rookie season I’ve ever seen for a quarterback ever,” Tucker said. “I mean, to lead the NFL in yards passing per game and touchdown interception ratio only been done two other times, Tom Brady and Joe Montana, and then C.J. Stroud last year as a rookie.
“I also thought Bryce Young was clearly the worst quarterback in the NFL last year, and now this year, I don’t know. They kind of were about similar. They kind of were even.”
Williams’ main issue in his rookie season was coming into an organization that had general manager Ryan Poles and head coach Matt Eberflus in charge of his development. Their choice of offensive coordinator Shane Waldron failed spectacularly.
At least one of them won’t be in the picture in 2025.
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