Bear Digest

What the Talk Show 'Experts' Say About Caleb Williams' Debut

Podcast talk show reaction on Monday to Saturday's first Caleb Williams Bears appearance went way over the top praising the rookie and predicting greatness.

Gene Chamberlain

Matt Eberflus watches Caleb Williams warming up prior to Saturday's 33-6 preseason win by the Bears over Buffalo.
Matt Eberflus watches Caleb Williams warming up prior to Saturday's 33-6 preseason win by the Bears over Buffalo. / Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports
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The bad thing about a Saturday debut for Caleb Williams was how long you needed to wait to hear the reaction from the so-called national experts.

Podcast row had its say on Monday, two days after Williams led drives to two field goals with a strong passing effort and it was all positive. What was refreshing, however, was the variety of spin being put on it. They all seemed to find something different to point out related to Williams' success.

Fox's Colin Cowherd produced grandiose statements generalizing about Williams' performance. While positive, they had to be treated as what they were. It just seemed like Cowherd was riding the wave.

"The arm, the movement, the confidence, it's just different," Cowherd said. "Mahomes is a completely accurate comp(arison)."

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Cowherd watched those two drives and concluded the Bears got rid of AOL dial-up and "finally got wifi."

On the Rich Eisen Show without Eisen, Mike Hill had the mic and concluded the Bears are making a serious run at the playoffs after he saw Williams.    

"Chicago has expectations of winning," Hill said. "I mean, they won seven games last year and you add a healthy Caleb Williams, as long as he doesn't mess it up, right?"

Hill pointed out Williams has been surrounded with talent and merely needs to operate the levers.

"All he's got to do is play well," Hill said. "He doesn't have to play at the C.J. Stroud level, he doesn't have to be the next Patrick Mahomes, he doesn't have to be Tom Brady-like. All he has to do is play solid football—don't mess it up.

"This team can win 10 to 11 games this year."

Pat McAfee's ESPN show offered up two thoughts on Williams. One came from McAfee and the other from his stoic sidekick, former Packers linebacker A.J. Hawk. 

"Caleb Williams' Chicago Bears debut was phenomenal," McAfee trumpted.

Thinking back to the run up to the draft and how Williams' ability to improvise in the NFL was being questioned, McAfee essentially put it back in the faces of those critics.

"Everything you wondered about Caleb Williams in his first game he proved he'll be able to accomplish," McAfee said.

"It's like potentially, he is Da Answer for Da Bears," McAfee added, before jokingly telling the former Packers sidekick that the Packers fans have to be "...(filling) their pants."

Hawk admitted Williams looked not only sharp, but also advanced.

"What I was more impressed with was we all know the physical tools this guy has, how he can move, how he can throw the ball on the run, but there's different clips of him that

it looks like he may be checking out of a few things, dealing with the protection and just doing the little things," Hawk said. "I think that we know, hey, if you couple that with the physical tools this dude, he could be absolutely special."

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.