For better or worse, it’s a brand-new era in Chicago Bears football.
Well, in fairness, things can’t get much worse than they have. After all, the legacy franchise has been searching for a true franchise quarterback for decades now.
The football-crazed city believes they finally have their guy: Caleb Williams.
It came as a surprise to absolutely no one that the Bears selected the USC quarterback with the first-overall pick in April’s NFL Draft.
While the comparisons to Patrick Mahomes are certainly premature, there’s no denying Williams’ sky-high potential.
He may have taken a step back in his development this past season, but not nearly enough for Chicago’s front office to have any serious doubts over him whatsoever.
In the bigger picture, the Bears aren’t exactly lacking for talent. General manager Ryan Poles has remained aggressive in building a competent roster that can grow and develop together.
Chicago made one of the biggest splashes of the offseason when they acquired six-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Keenan Allen from the Los Angeles Charges in exchange for a fourth-round draft pick.
“We’re extremely excited to add Keenan to our team,” Poles said once the trade was complete.
Who could blame him? … Despite turning 32-years-old, Allen has proven to be a dangerous weapon in the league.
There’s no reason why he can’t continue his productive ways in Chicago.
Having said that, the Williams-Allen connection hasn’t exactly gotten off on the most encouraging of starts.
Recent footage captured at offseason practice shows Allen’s clear frustration with Williams over a painfully underthrown ball.
Allen was overheard shouting “hell nah!” as he caught the pass.
Having played with Chargers quarterbacks Philip Rivers and Justin Herbert, it’s safe to say that Allen isn’t used to having too many underthrown balls tossed his way.
However, let’s not make this a bigger deal than it is.
Not only is Williams a rookie learning on the fly, but this was a practice play ran at 20% speed.
While the optics weren’t great, let’s not pretend like this was a third down play ran against the Packers in December.
Allen is coming off a stellar 2023 season where he hauled in 108 receptions for 1,243 yards and seven touchdowns.
While he only played 13 games, his impact for the Bolts was undeniable as he would go on to earn his sixth Pro Bowl nod.
However, with new head coach Jim Harbaugh in town, Allen was shipped out and the Chargers’ loss would figure to be the Bears’ gain.
Williams is expected to be Chicago’s starter from day one.
We’ve seen similar situations go both ways in the past. Some handle being thrown into the fire better than others.
Having said that, the Bears are confident that Williams will be able to handle anything thrown his way.
Of course, there will be plenty of bumps in the road. That’s an unmistakable fact. (Although C.J. Stroud made things look pretty easy in Houston last season, didn’t he?)
Williams was once looked upon as a generational talent.
That’s not saying he won’t end up being that special. But the consensus on him isn’t what it once was following his Heisman Trophy winning season in 2022.
Even for the biggest Caleb fans, there has to be some concern over his lack of size, diva attitude and premature urge to escape the pocket and freelance on the fly.
As we’ve seen countless times, sandlot football may work in college – but it will never work in the NFL.
What are your thoughts on Williams as a quarterback?
Will he end up living up to the massive hype? … Or do you think he has bust potential?
As for the “hell nah!” clip – is there reason for concern? … Or do you think that’s a whole lot to do about nothing???