From the Preseason, What Did We Learn About Caleb Williams?

With the 53-man roster being made official yesterday for the Chicago Bears, it is almost time for the 2024 season. It is not an understatement to say that the 2024 season is one of the most important the franchise has had in recent memory, as it marks the debut of our hopeful franchise savior, Caleb Williams.

Williams played a total of 42 snaps this preseason. While this is not a huge sample size to evaluate Williams or the offense, it is still worth asking what to make of Williams and the "new look" Chicago Bears.

Before we dive in too deep, let's be clear. We are talking about preseason. Last year, Kenny Pickett and the Pittsburgh Steelers looked magical in preseason, only to be "meh" when real football started. It is a dangerous game to draw definitive conclusions from games that don't matter, but hey, let's do it anyway.

I promise I won't use the following terms: "Mahomes-like," "Mahomein," or "Mahomy."

The Numbers

Let's look at the stats from Williams' two games.

Williams went 10-20 for a total of 170 yards (an average of 8.5 per completion). He threw zero interceptions and zero touchdowns. Williams also rushed for 20 yards and had one rushing touchdown.

He took just one sack.

These stats are encouraging, but nothing jumps out at you. For perspective, here are the stat lines of the other rookie quarterbacks (McCarthy not included due to injury).

• Jayden Daniels: 12-15 for 123 yards, 0 TDs, 0 INTs

• Drake Maye: 21-34 for 192 yards, 1 TD, 0 INTs

• Michael Penix Jr.: 9-16 for 104 yards, 0 TDs, 0 INTs

• Bo Nix: 23-30 for 211 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INTs

From a stats perspective, Williams was in the middle compared to the other first-round quarterbacks.

But as we all know, statistics do not tell the whole story.

The Eye Test

Caleb Williams aced the eye test (at least for my eyeballs). On at least five separate plays he displayed his otherworldly arms talent, pocket presence, and flawless footwork. He showed the same dynamic playmaking abilities, wild off-platform throws, and improvisation that he showed in college.

Here are five plays from the preseason that stood out to me:

Screen Pass to D'Andre Swift

Williams shows excellent pocket presence and poise to stay calm and deliver the ball to Swift. Williams' arm angle is worth noting. Williams moves to the right in the pocket and throws to his left. Not an easy throw to make.

He shows a natural feel for the pocket, feeling pressure without needing to see it.

Great play.

Rollout Pass to Cole Kmet

This is the standout play from the Bills game. This is Caleb Williams for you.

Solid ball fake, fast on the rollout. He uses a pump fake to take No. 94 out of his passing lane, then delivers a 40-yard laser to Cole Kmet, all while moving at full speed.

William's best attribute may be his ability to throw on the run. There is no slowdown in his run. He moves at full speed and puts the ball right on the money.

Rollout Pass to Rome Odunze

The play speaks for itself.

While the last throw was the play of the game against the Bills, this was the play of the preseason for Williams.

On the move, across his body, 45-yard dime. Plain and simple, few quarterbacks in the NFL can make this throw.

It does appear that Williams zeroed in on Odunze from the start, but he shows a well-tuned internal clock, knowing when to get out of the pocket. When he exits the pocket, he keeps his eyes down the field and finds Odunze.

An ELITE throw.

Scramble Pass to Rome Odunze (out of bounds)

Yes, this play did not count, but we can still see some spectacular abilities from Williams. Williams makes #51 miss in open space, keeps rolling out at full speed, and finds Rome in the corner of the end zone. Again, Williams never breaks stride when he throws this ball. He is stellar on the run.

Yes, Odunze needs better awareness to stay in bounds, but it is better to have this mistake now than in the regular season.

While it did not count, it sure looked pretty.

Touchdown Scramble

The last play of Williams preseason - what a great way to end.

At times, Williams is simply untouchable. His ability to navigate through traffic in the pocket is incredible, all while keeping his eyes on the end zone.

Many analysts said Williams would need to clean up these plays to succeed in the NFL. While he did it against 2nd and 3rd string players, it sure seemed to work at the NFL level.

If a student answered the "eyeball exam" with these five plays, they would earn a 105% in my class.

The Bad

There was not much bad from Williams and his 42 snaps. Was he perfect? No.

If we look at the lone sack Williams took in the preseason, he missed an open Nsimba Webster running down the middle of the field. Williams should have had his first career passing touchdown on this play.

Also against the Bengals, on the final drive for the starters, Williams had an awkward incompletion to Gerald Everett along the Bengals sideline. He had plenty of time to reset his feet and deliver a ball to an open Everett, but rushed the throw.

At times Williams showed sloppy footwork, poor progression through reads, and a few bad passes.

So yes, Williams still has things to work on and improve in his game, but this was expected, no matter how lofty our expectations may have been.

Conclusion

There were both spectacular and poor plays during the preseason, though we saw far more positives than negatives from Williams. We witnessed all the elite attributes that made him a Heisman winner and the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. He showed he can process and deliver at an NFL level and his ability to succeed both inside and outside of structure.

From the eye test alone, we can see that Williams is who we thought he was, a stud.

Williams is ready for the NFL, but is the NFL ready for Williams?

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