Preseason expectations for Caleb Williams based on recent quarterbacks drafted with the first overall pick

Later this month, the Chicago Bears will be returning to Halas Hall for training camp and it won't be long after that until the team is on the playing field.

Chicago's first preseason game will be on August 1st against the Houston Texans in the Hall of Fame game . Then the team will be playing the Buffalo Bills, Cincinnati Bengals and Kansas City Chiefs in the weeks following.

Each of those games will be broadcasted nationally with everyone eager to get their eyes on the new-look Bears team led by rookie quarterback Caleb Williams. But, how many reps will the team's first overall pick actually play during the preseason?

Before we dive into the research on each of the last three quarterbacks drafted first overall who played in the preseason, Bears head coach Matt Eberflus addressed the question following the last day of practice last month.

"That’s a process we’re going through right now," Eberflus said . "I think it’s something we have to look at and talk about and it’s what we’ll be doing here in the next couple days. I’m not going to forecast out exactly what it is right now because I haven’t made any decisions yet. I’m going to make sure that we visit with everybody, I’m in the process of the exit meetings with all the coaches right now and I’ve got about half of them done and I’ve got to finish that up. Then I’ll be able to think on that and do what’s best for the Bears."

Each team is different with how they handle their rookie quarterbacks during the preseason, however the top three drafted rookies last season all played a similar number of snaps, as Eberflus explained.

"You look at last year’s reps, [C.J. Stroud], [Bryce Young], [Anthony Richardson], they all got between 45 and 65 reps in the preseason," Eberflus added. "So you look at those things and you look at the past and we’ll be looking a little deeper than that and go back a few years. So you’re always looking at that and gathering the data."

So, let's take a look back at the last three quarterbacks drafted first overall and compare how much, or little, they played during the preseason to get an idea about how the Bears could look to handle Williams' usage.

Let's start with Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young. Young played a total of seven drives during the team's three preseason games in 2023. Three in the first game, and two in each of the final games. In total, Young played 48 offensive snaps during the preseason, 27 percent of the team's offensive snaps.

As for Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence in 2021, he played a total of 11 drives during his three games. Two drives in the first game, six drives in the second game (entire first half), and three drives in the final game. Lawrence played 65 total snaps in those games, 31 percent of the team's offensive snaps.

After Lawrence, the last first overall quarterback to play in the preseason was Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray (2020 preseason was cancelled). Murray appeared in nine drives in his four preseason games. One drive in the first game, three drives in the second game, five drives in the third game, and didn't appear in the final game. Murry played 60 snaps, 25.3 percent of the team's offensive snaps.

Preseason snap counts of the last three quarterbacks drafted first overall

Personally, I could see Williams following closely along with how the Cardinals used Murray during the preseason in 2019 and play nine total drives. With the current state of the Bears offense and the hype around the Hall of Fame game building, Williams could suit up for one drive against the Texans and progressively get more action against the Bills and Bengals. Then, Williams can sit out the final preseason game to get ready for Week 1 allowing Tyson Bagent to take the reigns against the Chiefs.

As for his weapons on offense, I'd expect fellow rookie Rome Odunze to see plenty of early action in each of the four games with DJ Moore and Keenan Allen used sparingly, similar to how Moore was used last preseason. Unlike other teams, the Bears will certainly trot out the starting unit for a handful of drives over the four games to help polish off any of the remaining blemishes before the start of the regular season.

It'll be great to finally get a taste of all the team's new offensive playmakers in action going against other opponents, and it'll be here before we know it.

Related: Why haven't first-round picks Caleb Williams and Rome Odunze signed their rookie contracts with the Bears yet