Bear Digest

Bears Not Asking Much From Caleb Williams Beyond Team Ball

The key according to GM Ryan Poles will be his rookie quarterback distributing the ball to playmakers in time and at key moments making the necessary big off-schedule throw.

Gene Chamberlain

Caleb Williams makes a few throws in pregame at Kansas City. Bears GM Ryan Poles has big expectations for his rookie QB.
Caleb Williams makes a few throws in pregame at Kansas City. Bears GM Ryan Poles has big expectations for his rookie QB. / Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports
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Bears GM Ryan Poles shape this year's team with the kind of weapons on offense they haven't had in about a decade, and kind of defense they haven't had since 2018, if not 2010.

So his one expectation for quarterback Caleb Williams is exactly the same as what coach Matt Eberflus hopes to see from the first pick in this year's draft.

They want to see him lean on those players.

It's easier said than done considering how Williams tends to try for the big play from outside the pocket while scrambling and looking downfield.

"I want him to lean on the talent around him and then when the time is right–and that's an instinctual thing and I think that plays right into him–that's when you do the special, and balancing that," Poles said. "And sometimes it’s gonna get out of whack one way or the other, but always come back to that."

Williams needs to find the spot between trying for big gains on extended plays and running the offense within the pocket. 

"It's kind of like that neutral place where he's at his best, and I think he has that, just from studying him and watching years of tape on him," Poles said. "He has that ability and so I think that;s kind of the big thing. Lean on the guys around him, be instinctual, let those wild plays happen at the right time.

"We saw it in the preseason a little bit. That's gonna be important."

Bears coach Matt Eberflus doesn't want to discount the importance of the offensive system and made an analogy Williams and any sports fan can appreciate.

"I really think that comes down to play design," Eberflus said. "I'm just going to micro it down actually to the play. So we all know what he can do in terms of his arm talent, in terms of throwing on the move and those types of things.

"But in the early parts of the game and early downs, he's just asked to play point guard, have a great operation, play a point guard, get the ball to our skill (players), either by handing it off or throwing it to them and letting them do the running and moving around and be gaining the yards."

He'll need to rely on an offensive line that will be critical in this regard.

"And then when you get to the point in the game where it is a critical down or a third down or in the red zone or whatever that might be, then you might see X-factor come out and that's where it is."

The X-factor is that inate ability to make the big pass on the run in the open field or otherwise.

There's more to quarterbacking than this. There is leadership, but this part is where Poles sees Williams as in his element.

"Yeah, it's fairly natural, it's not forced," Poles said. "I think that’s one thing, I mean, we've all been in teams before, but like there's people that come into those situations and they try too hard. It's like, man, it's awkward. It's hard to buy into that.

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"Then there's guys that they can navigate that so naturally because they're authentic and it's real, and that's what he's done. Then on top of that, just as a professional player, you have to perform, you have to do some things that guys like, OK, there's something different about you. And then pair that with a good natural, just good social skills, some cool things happen and then leadership starts to blossom and that's what you see now."

Apparently the rest of the team is ready to give up big numbers or other goals to win.

"It's been a long four years of losing for the most part since I've been here, and I'm really excited about what we've got offensively all around, and I think a lot of guys are going to play off each other," tight end Cole Kmet said. "If they're (defenses) going to be rotating over to DJ, that's going to obviously help Keenan (Allen) and Rome (Odunze). If they're taking away the outside with the receivers, you've got inside with the tight ends, and you've got a run game to account for as well.

"The main thing is just excelling in the role they give you each and every week. I look forward to doing that, and I think that's going to result in a lot of wins this year."

It could, if Williams is willing to do his part and get them the ball within the offense for the most part, and then occasionally using his X-factor.

Twitter: BearsOnSI

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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.