Caleb Williams and Rome Odunze Look Sharp in Giants Hard Knocks
Caleb Williams and Rome Odunze are rookies in the NFL but when the HBO Hard Knocks cameras come to Halas Hall, they'll be veterans.
They'll have more experience with HBO's insider cameras than most other Bears because they're small parts of episode No. 2 this week in the Giants' offseason version of Hard Knocks.
Neither comes out looking bad in their appearances, which were the combine visits with the Giants coaching staff prior to the draft.
Odunze especially comes out looking sharp and giving the right answers.
Giants GM Joe Schoen wanted Odunze to describe his best trait. It's something both Bears GM Ryan Poles and offensive coordinator Shane Waldron said they liked about Odunze.
"I would say my versatility," Odunze told Schoen. "You know, I played inside a lot in my career in some of my early-on days. I'm a blocker. I could get down on the line and get the job done, and I think I played pretty well outside.
"So you could plug-and-pull me wherever you want and I'm going to get the job done."
Schoen also wanted to know why the Giants should draft Odunze. They didn't, of course, choosing instead to take LSU receiver Malik Nabers at No. 6.
"I think, you know, other than all my skills on the field I'm a guy who is going to come into the locker room and bring the energy, bring the juice, adhere to a high standard and bring everybody along with me -- enter that room as a leader, as someone who people can look to as an example of how to do things right and how to carry yourself in a way that inspires others."
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Daboll, sitting nearby, practically applauded and told Odunze he was "an impressive young man."
The Giants coach may have found a way to squeeze inside information out of Williams, or at least what to be wary about if the Giants are defending the Bears and Williams in the future. For that matter, it's now out there for all the other teams in the league.
Daboll asked Williams to diagram what he would have considered his go-to play if he could run something in a clutch situation.
Williams is very decisive and fast to decide which play to use. He goes right to the board to diagrams it. Now everyone in the league will know. Of course, he could change this now.
Williams also has quick answers to all of Daboll's questions about how it's run and then is informed by Daboll it was a play he used to run with Brett Favre at quarterback with the New York Jets in 2008.
Williams' appearance on the show and interview went much better than the visit the Giants had with the second pick in the draft, Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels.
Daniels had trouble repeating back play calls, which hardly can be considered a knock against him considering how fast Daboll told him the play and seemed to catch him off guard.
It was the kind of situation the HBO cameras are made for and the kind of thing the Bears feared in the past when they didn't want the "insiders" at Halas Hall.
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