Those who watched Caleb Williams‘ first week of practice with the Bears might’ve come away with the impression that the defenders were far ahead of the No. 1 pick of the NFL Draft. But the quarterback is gaining ground.
So says Bears coach Matt Eberflus, who ended the second week of OTAs by having his offense going through some 7-on-7 drills. Sure, these are non-contact drills, skeleton-type drills. But it’s all part of the progression of Williams.
“You look at practice … I thought 7-on-7 for Caleb was really good,” Eberflus told reporters. “I thought he did a really nice job throwing the ball on time.
“His footwork has improved this whole week. His progress was there.”
No doubt, Williams will be the most-watched rookie in the NFL, if not one of the league’s most scrutinized players. He’s billed as a generational talent with the skills of a Patrick Mahomes. And he was the top rookie quarterback in a record-tying class of six first rounders. The sixth (Bo Nix) was off the board by pick No. 12.
Now, it’s about what Williams can do on the field. The Bears owned the top pick because of a trade they made last year with the Panthers. Then with the ninth pick, the Bears drafted Washington receiver Rome Odunze. In free agency, Chicago concentrated on its defense, but the team did sign former Eagles running back D’Andre Swift.
The pieces are there. A lot will depend on how well Williams adapts.
“People always talk about success and they think it’s a straight line from here going that way,” Eberflus said. “And success really isn’t that, as we know, because there’s bumps in the road. It’s always gonna be here and then a little bit wavy, right, and then it’ll be here. It’s gonna be like that.
“And that’s really what a football season is, or even an individual career is like that,” the Bears coach said. “There are some learning moments in there during the course of the week. It wasn’t perfect, but again, there was progress. I thought this week was better than last week. That’s the positive.”
To add to the outside noise, the Bears will be the focus of Hard Knocks, HBO’s iconic, behind-the-scenes NFL show. But then again, Williams spent the past two seasons at USC against the backdrop of a glitzy LA.
Meanwhile, he’s got Eberflus helping him along. The Bears coach talked about other lessons Williams is absorbing as he throws against his own defense.
“Just understanding the plays and how his feet are married to those plays, albeit if it’s just normal situations, if it’s play-action pass or in the red-zone when it quickens up a little bit,” Eberflus said. “I think he really improved on that this week, and you could see the ball coming out of his hand pretty live when his feet were right.”
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