Bear Digest

Caleb Williams Goes for More History Sunday Night at Houston

After Caleb Williams became the first QB drafted No. 1 overall to win in his debut since 2002, he can be part of more history Sunday night against the Texans.

Gene Chamberlain

Caleb Williams looks to make the handoff in last week's win. He's looking to go 2-0 starting Sunday night against the Texans.
Caleb Williams looks to make the handoff in last week's win. He's looking to go 2-0 starting Sunday night against the Texans. / The Tennessean-USA TODAY NETWORK
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Prior to Caleb Williams' debut, much was made about how few quarterbacks selected first overall in the draft actually came out on the winning end in their first games.

The total is now five out of the 28 selected first since the AFL-NFL merger after the Bears' 24-17 win last week, with Kyler Murray the only one who had a tie in his debut. Of course, Williams played only a minor part in this with his 14-of-19 effort for 93 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions.

The win marked the first time it had been done since 2002, and after the previous 15 failed to do it.

When the Bears play the Houston Texans on the road Sunday night, Williams will be trying to do something just as rare, perhaps even more rare. He'll try to become only the fifth quarterback of the 28 chosen first overall since the AFL-NFL merger to win their first road start. He'll also be trying to become the sixth one to win their second start.

But Williams will also be trying to become the first one of these QBs ever to win at home in his first start and then win on the road in his second start.

The only QB of those chosen first overall since the merger to win their first two starts was John Elway, and his came with a huge asterisk attached. He left his debut after eight passes, one completion and then the Broncos went on to beat Pittsburgh 14-10. Then he came back and won his second start and played the entire game. Both of those were road games.

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Of the 27 before Williams, only Jim Plunkett, John Elway, Jameis Winston and JaMarcus Russell went on the road for the first time and won. Winston was the last one to do it, in 2015. Winston's Buccaneers beat the Saints on the road in Week 2 26-19 after they had lost the opener 42-14 to Tennessee.

Russell's achievement comes with a huge asterisk attached as he was no longer a rookie when he did pick up a win in his road debut. He only started twice in his first year and both were home games.

In terms of Williams' play in his debut, of the 27 QBs chosen first overall before him, 16 had better passer ratings in their second start than in their first. Williams had a low 55.7 passer rating last week.

The good news for Williams is that seven of the last eight QBs chosen first overall have achieved better passer ratings in their second game than in their debuts. It's definitely a trend.

Andrew Luck started that trend in 2012 with a 107.5 passer rating in his second game, a victory over the Vikings at home one week after his Colts lost at Soldier Field 41-21 to the Bears.

Five of the QBs chosen first overall threw for fewer than the 93 yards Williams did. On the positive side, Williams is only the fifth one not to throw an interception in their debuts, the last one being Jared Goff in 2016.

When it comes to efficiency in debuts, nine of the 27 had worst passer ratings in their debuts than Williams did and nine did not throw for a TD pass like Williams.

Second Starts

QBs chosen first overall since 1970 AFL-NFL merger

  • Terry Bradshaw 1970 Steelers: 13 of 26, 211 yards, 61.5 rating, 16-13 loss at Broncos
  • Jim Plunkett, 1971 Patriots: 6 of 17, 113 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT, 34-7 home loss to Lions
  • Steve Bartkowski, 1975 Falcons: 7 of 22, 104 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 44.5, 17-14 home loss to Lions
  • John Elway, 1983 Broncos: 9 of 21, 106 yards, 58.8, 17-10 win at Baltimore (Colts)*
  • Vinny Testaverde, 1987 Buccaneers: 20 of 39, 262 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 70.7 rating, 20-10 home loss to Lions
  • Troy Aikman, 1989 Cowboys: 13 of 23, 241 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT, 71.1, 27-21 loss at Falcons
  • Jeff George, 1990 Colts: 12 of 24, 160 yards, 1 TD, 4 INTs, 45.8 16-14 home loss to Patriots
  • Drew Bledsoe, 1993 Patriots: 28 of 49, 239 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 68.3, 19-16 home loss to Lions
  • Peyton Manning, 1998 Colts: 21 of 33, 188 yards, 1 TD, 3 INTs, 51.1, 29-6 loss at Patriots
  • Tim Couch, 1999 Browns: 13 of 32, 123 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 49.3, 17-10 loss at Ravens
  • Michael Vick, 2001: 12 of 30, 176 yards, 0 TDs, 1 INT, 46.0, 31-13 loss at Rams (St. Louis)
  • David Carr, 2002 Texans: 6 of 25, 87 yards, 0 TDs, 2 INTs, 8.2 rating, 24-3 loss at Chargers (San Diego)
  • Carson Palmer, 2003 Bengals: 21 of 38, 147 yards, 0 TDs, 1 INT, 53.3, 16-13 home win over Dolphins
  • Eli Manning, 2004 Giants: 6 of 21, 148 yards, 0 TDs, 2 INTs, 16.9 rating, 27-6 home loss to Eagles
  • Alex Smith, 2005 49ers: 8 of 16, 92 yards, 0 TDs, 1 INT, 41.7, 52-17 loss at Washington (Redskins)
  • Jamarcus Russell, 2007 Raiders: 17 of 26, 180 yards, 2 TDs, 111.1 rating, 41-14 home loss to Broncos*
  • Matthew Stafford, 2009 Lions: 18 of 30, 152 yards, 1 TD, 2 INTs, 56.5, 27-13 home loss to Vikings
  • Sam Bradford, 2010 Eagles: 14 of 25, 167 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT, 86.6, 16-14 loss at Raiders (Oakland)
  • Cam Newton, 2011 Panthers: 28 of 46, 432 yards, 1 TD, 3 INT, 72.0, 30-23 loss at Packers
  • Andrew Luck, 2012 Colts: 20 of 31, 224 yards, 2 TDs, 107.5 rating, 23-20 home win over Vikings
  • Jameis Winston, 2015 Buccaneers: 14 of 21, 207 yards, 1 TD, 114.6 rating, 26-19 win at Saints**
  • Jared Goff, 2016 Eagles: 20 of 32, 214 yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT, 100.3, 49-21 loss at Saints
  • Baker Mayfield, 2018 Browns: 25 of 43, 342 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 81.7, 12-9 home win over Ravens
  • Kyler Murray, 2019 Cardinals: 25 of 40, 349 yards, 90.5 rating, 23-30 loss at Browns
  • Joe Burrow, 2020 Bengals: 37 of 61, 316 yards, 3 TDs, 90.6 rating, 35-30 loss at Browns
  • Trevor Lawrence, 2021 Jaguars: 14 of 33, 118 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT, 42.4 rating, 23-13 loss at Broncos
  • Bryce Young, 2023 Panthers: 22 of 33, 153 yards, 1 TD, 87.1 rating, 20-17 home win over Saints

*Won debut on the road. **Lost debut at home.

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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.