National Football League

Caleb Williams 'ahead of the curve' as Bears' franchise QB

Published May. 13, 2024 4:50 p.m. ET

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Carmen Vitali

NFC North Reporter

Caleb Williams has a head start on this whole quarterback thing.

Williams said he wanted to be the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft when he was a child. 

He and his father, as a result, have been in and out of various quarterback camps since, molding Williams into exactly what he wanted to be.

Well.

Mission accomplished.

The Chicago Bears made Williams the first overall pick of the 2024 NFL Draft and what's more, Williams worked with his now-offensive coordinator Shane Waldron as far back as 2017 in one of those aforementioned camps, the QB Collective. It means he has a head start on the ever-important chemistry between OC and QB.

Going further, the Bears all but handed him the playbook in early April when Williams took his one pre-draft visit to Chicago. He went to no other teams. General manager Ryan Poles and head coach Matt Eberflus took Williams through the first installs, sent him back with homework, and let him get familiarized with Waldron's scheme in the ensuing weeks.

And Williams dove right in, realizing there were going to be new things he'll have to master at the NFL level. For example, he'll need to go under center more, something Lincoln Riley's offense at USC didn't have him doing much of. There are also new cadences, new signals, new checks, new concepts, all of which he will not only need to understand himself but also be able to relay to his teammates.

But with the playbook already in his hands, it doesn't look like that's going to be a problem.

"I think the one thing Caleb has shown is that he can be in all sorts of backfield alignments," said Waldron on Saturday. "He did a great job at his pro day, he's played quarterback his whole life, so I think the biggest thing will be just the footwork and really mastering that first step from under center, something that he's taken pride in already and really gotten a jump on in this rookie minicamp. But he's played the position his whole life, just like these other guys have, so I think there's a good, natural transition. It wasn't something where Caleb was starting from total scratch with the drops and his footwork.

"His arm talent...to put the ball where it needs to be. That was evident from Day 1."

Were concerns about Caleb Williams’ maturity overblown?

More than the on-the-field stuff, Williams also has a head start on the lifestyle of an NFL player.

Gone are the days of wide-eyed rookies getting their first taste of the business side of the industry. Make no mistake, it's always been a very large component that vies for a piece of each of their lives, but the NFL shines that spotlight even brighter — especially when you're the new face of a century-old franchise.

But in this NIL-generation, players are coming in more experienced, more seasoned as businessmen than ever before. That's especially true in the case of Williams, whose career earnings are estimated in the tens of millions without ever playing a down at the pro level. As a result, Williams already has a handle on, well, how to handle everything else that comes with being an NFL player.

"It goes back to having a plan, it goes back to having a support team around you," Williams said. "That's really important — off the field so I don't have to deal with any of it. I have the right people that I trust that give me summaries of what's going on and things like that. So being able to handle that and not put much thought process into it allows me to work on phase 1 install and fully dig in and get to the point like I was speaking about being able to dig into that but also find ways to learn it and different ways to be able to coach it to my teammates and help out."

The Bears really couldn't be set up with a better fit for Chicago in its current state: a franchise starved for success, especially under center. Every Bears fan's sanity seemingly rests on what Williams can accomplish this season. Their patience has already worn thin thanks to the sins of general managers and coaches before the current regime. That isn't their fault — but it is theirs to contend with.

Williams comes from the second-largest media market in the country, though. He spent two years at USC, under the showtime lights of Hollywood, and the biggest scandal he was a part of was what color he painted his nails and the fact that he seeks out his mother for support and comfort.

The horror.

Los Angeles prepared Williams for the limelight, or rather, the blue and orange light, he will now be under. 

And it isn't just Bears fans, either.

Given the historical significance of the league's founding franchise and the nationwide reach of the Chicago Bears, the entire NFL is now invested. Fans of other teams, of other leagues, are now having discussions on if this could finally be it for Chicago. If they can finally find stability in a signal caller. If they can finally see sustained success that helps them reach a mountaintop they've only been to twice in the Super Bowl era, with only one full conquest. 

To give that task to a 22-year-old seems daunting, to say the least. But Williams seems the right, and perhaps only, person for the job. 

Yet while Bears fans have jumped to conclusions, Williams is still taking it a step at a time.

"To be a great leader, you have to learn how to follow first," said Williams on Friday. "So right now I'm following all the vets, I'm following all the coaches, I'm listening – having both ears open and my mouth shut – just kind of sitting back listening. When I get to the point of when I learn everything, when I learn the ways of how we do it, the culture, the playbook and what the offensive line, wide receivers are all doing, running backs and tight ends, things like that, then you can start taking the lead, then you can start taking the helms of it and take the next steps. For right now though, I'm listening more than I'm speaking and talking and I'm taking it one step at a time and being in the moment."

Williams doesn't shy away from the expectations. But he remains realistic. He's somehow experienced, while still being a rookie.

Above all else, Caleb Williams was the last domino to fall for the Bears' rebuild, but he's still ahead of the curve.

Carmen Vitali covers the NFC North for FOX Sports. Carmen had previous stops with The Draft Network and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. She spent six seasons with the Bucs, including 2020, which added the title of Super Bowl Champion (and boat-parade participant) to her résumé. You can follow Carmen on Twitter at @CarmieV. 

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