Bear Digest

What Bears Could See from Defenses Trying to Stop Caleb Williams

USC coach Lincoln Riley said Caleb Williams has seen just about every type of scheme as little worked consistently against him.

Gene Chamberlain

USC Trojans quarterback Caleb Williams talks with USC Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley during the
USC Trojans quarterback Caleb Williams talks with USC Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley during the / Abigail Dollins/USA TODAY NETWORK / USA
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If Caleb Williams' old head coach is proof, they Bears can expect to see defenses playing them exactly the way they did with Justin Fields for a while.

That is, until they realize this isn't Fields and it isn't a rookie unwise to the ways of defenses.

USC coach Lincoln Riley described during a conference call with Chicago media how teams defended Williams because of his mobility.

"People tried a little bit of everything when you look through it all," said Riley, Williams' coach both years at USC and Oklahoma for a year. "I think people were a little scared to play man coverage with him just because he can win with his arm and then obviously you start turning heads the other way and when he takes off he is certainly a real weapon there."

Good running QBs frequently burn teams playing man-to-man coverage. The DBs have their backs to the QB and the scrambler gets a big head start.

Fields enjoyed this advantage and used it greatly in 2022 when he went over 1,000 yards rushing. Then defenses played more zone.

"I think we probably saw more zone coverage throughout the years because of that," Riley said. "I thought there was a real emphasis on people trying to keep him in the pocket. That's easier said than done. He's obviously pretty elusive back there, but you could certainly see teams I think trying to say, 'Alright, if he's going to beat us, we're going to make him beat us from the pocket.' "

Letting Williams roll out or step up and then throw downfield after defensive backs lost coverage only caused big plays.

So the defenses against Williams morphed because his arm definitely is big enough to beat straight zone coverage.

"He had people trying to challenge him on the backend with throwing different looks, rotating coverages and disguises as much as possible," Riley said. "He's had a decent amount of reps now. He certainly has the physical skills to beat anything.

"He's just getting ready to see it with better players. It'll be a great challenge for him but it's one I know he’ll certainly look to embrace."

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

BearDigest.com publisher Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.