The Bears are worried about the wrong thing when it comes to Caleb Williams' development and Sunday's loss proved it
The NFL is figuring out that there's no right way to develop a young quarterback out of the gate, and that it's extremely difficult to do, no matter how NFL-ready said quarterback is.Over the last two seasons, we've seen a lot of different ways teams have handled playing, or not playing, their young quarterbacks and […]
The NFL is figuring out that there's no right way to develop a young quarterback out of the gate, and that it's extremely difficult to do, no matter how NFL-ready said quarterback is.
Over the last two seasons, we've seen a lot of different ways teams have handled playing, or not playing, their young quarterbacks and the outcome that decision has had on the rest of the team.
The Chicago Bears have taken an unconventional approach with rookie first overall pick Caleb Williams and it's not looking to be the best decision.
As soon as Williams arrived to Chicago, the Bears threw the entire kitchen sink at him, literally. Williams has been tasked with managing and mastering the entire offensive scheme from day one. No problem with that, because he's be able to handle it.
Some quarterbacks need time to learn the offense and the speed of the game before taking over the reigns. Williams didn't need to do all that. However, when you're thrown into the fire immediately, you need to learn from everything, but you also need to have the opportunity to have things to learn from.
The Bears are being incredibly restricted with what they want Williams to do, and the main thing has been about limiting turnovers. While they've succeeded in doing that, it's held back the offense and made the unit easier for opposing defenses to prepare against.
Just look at Williams' passing chart from Sunday's loss. Williams attempted just one pass over 15 yards and had only one completion over 10 yards.
The Bears have plenty of capable play-makers who can help stretch the field and create big plays down the field. That helps keep the defenses honest but also helps create major sparks for the team, which in turn builds confidence in Williams.
And even if taking risks down the field leads to a turnover, the Bears have one of the best defenses in football who are shutting down opponents and getting the ball back into the hands of their rookie quarterback.
By comparison, New England Patriots' rookie Drake Maye on the other sideline finished the game with nine passes over 10 yards. Here's what Patriots' head coach Jerod Mayo had to say coming into the game:
“He’s trying to make plays out there. And that comes with it,” Mayo explained. “I’m not going to try and change the way he plays. I look forward to seeing the way he continues to develop. And in saying that, I’m sure the turnovers and things like that will become less and less — and I’m excited about that.”
That's the kind of mindset you need to have with your rookie quarterback. Bears' head coach Matt Eberflus said after the game that Williams needs to learn from "experience and exposure" but playing within an offense that ties a hand behind his back isn't the way to make sure that happens.
The Bears are failing yet another promising young quarterback, this time for a different reason, and it needs to change sooner than later.
Patriots’ head coach sees a lot of potential in Caleb Williams despite struggles in Sunday’s loss
He sees something special in him.
