Caleb Williams is the real deal.

[seafoam1 2,523]

Dang. He is accurate, can feel the pocket, throws ropes 25 yards down field through the wind, can throw on the run, and is smart. He only needs to prove he can read defenses. So that will be his make or break point. 

I'm betting on him. 

[polecatt 471]

He's thrown 7 passes in a preseason game, maybe pump the brakes a bit

[jrokh 596]

He looked good but you can’t really gauge him until he throws in the elements in November and December…

[Ray_T 718]

4 minutes ago, jrokh said:

He looked good but you can’t really gauge him until he throws in the elements in November and December…

true, but a strong armed QB is more likely able to cut through the wind with a throw. its a natural advantage of the rocket arm.    jrokh is right though, its playing in the muddy fall weather you want to see.  sadly we wont  see that until the fall, so you'll have to settle for what you got. (for now)

[WhiteWonder 2,476]

he was a justin fields apologist in the not so distant past.  it's fun to get excited about your team but seafoam is a classic cart before the horses guy.

[gcmmidwest 146]

Definitely an upgrade from fields but looks like he's trying to be the next mahomes with the little dump offs ... expect turnovers but gotta respect the fiestyness

[justforbeer 41]

He definitely has weapons.

DJ,Keenan,Swift, Herbert, Ro and Kmet.

[TBayXXXVII 2,390]

1 hour ago, WhiteWonder said:

he was a justin fields apologist in the not so distant past.  it's fun to get excited about your team but seafoam is a classic cart before the horses guy.

Let's be honest, how many people aren't apologists for their fist round rookie QB during the first few years?  Bryce Young was worse last year than Fields ever was... I've heard almost ZERO criticism about him.  Also, Fields did get MVP votes in his 2nd year.

[GobbleDog 918]

If scouts weren't touting who the top Qb prospect was, I never would've have guessed Caleb. I would've picked about 5 Qbs ahead of him. Stats were good, but not elite in any particular category. Admittedly I only saw Caleb play two games last year, but he didn't look worthy of the first pick of the draft. Maybe I caught some down weeks, but I didn't see the hype. Shows what kind of scout I am. 

He's definitely in a great position to succeed with all those weapons in Chicago.

[TBayXXXVII 2,390]

9 minutes ago, GobbleDog said:

If scouts weren't touting who the top Qb prospect was, I never would've have guessed Caleb. I would've picked about 5 Qbs ahead of him. Stats were good, but not elite in any particular category. Admittedly I only saw Caleb play two games last year, but he didn't look worthy of the first pick of the draft. Maybe I caught some down weeks, but I didn't see the hype. Shows what kind of scout I am. 

He's definitely in a great position to succeed with all those weapons in Chicago.

You're not wrong yet.  I think Trent Dilfer has it right.  You don't truly know who your QB is until after about 40 starts... he might even be underselling that.

[listen2me 23 1,756]

45 minutes ago, TBayXXXVII said:

Let's be honest, how many people aren't apologists for their fist round rookie QB during the first few years?  Bryce Young was worse last year than Fields ever was... I've heard almost ZERO criticism about him.  Also, Fields did get MVP votes in his 2nd year.

Zero criticism?  Most people already call Young a bust.  They havent made excuses for him about his team and coaching like they had Fields.  

The fact that a good chunk of Bears fans wanted to keep Fields is still hilarious.  

[TBayXXXVII 2,390]

45 minutes ago, listen2me 23 said:

Zero criticism?  Most people already call Young a bust.  They havent made excuses for him about his team and coaching like they had Fields.  

The fact that a good chunk of Bears fans wanted to keep Fields is still hilarious.  

Then you're reading and hearing things I'm not.  I listen to NFL Radio and the Fantasy sports channel all the time on Sirius and every host on every show is saying that Young needs more help.  That he can't do it alone.  It's pretty much the same thing they said about Fields, and I believe that's fair.

I don't blame Bears fans either.  They gave him 1 year with DJ Moore, that's it.  They draft Williams, and then draft Odunze and trade for Keenan Allen, plus add another 3rd round OL.  The talent around Williams is already 5x better than what Fields ever had to work with.  On top of that, they fire his HC and OC after Y1.  Going further, the OC that Eberflus hired, he's gone now too.  Keep in mind, Y2, Fields got MVP votes.  The Bears could've gotten a mint for that #1 pick.  They could've been set up for great drafts for 3 years.

[seafoam1 2,523]

5 hours ago, polecatt said:

He's thrown 7 passes in a preseason game, maybe pump the brakes a bit

Did you watch it?

[seafoam1 2,523]

4 hours ago, gcmmidwest said:

Definitely an upgrade from fields but looks like he's trying to be the next mahomes with the little dump offs ... expect turnovers but gotta respect the fiestyness

This is a little dump off? 

Did you see the game?

https://x.com/ChicagoBears/status/1822324308472893628?ref_src=twsrc^tfw|twcamp^tweetembed|twterm^1822324308472893628|twgr^b4ef12af5b80806f3a45425bf1326707cfda692a|twcon^s1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nbcsportschicago.com%2Fnfl%2Fchicago-bears%2Fbears-analysis%2Fhow-caleb-williams-performed-during-bears-preseason-debut-vs-bills%2F586121%2F%3Fpartner%3Dyahoo

[seafoam1 2,523]

2 hours ago, listen2me 23 said:

Zero criticism?  Most people already call Young a bust.  They havent made excuses for him about his team and coaching like they had Fields.  

The fact that a good chunk of Bears fans wanted to keep Fields is still hilarious.  

I don't know any Bears fans that wanted to keep him. And most of my friends are Bears fans. How is it you cheeseheads know so many?

[listen2me 23 1,756]

2 hours ago, TBayXXXVII said:

Then you're reading and hearing things I'm not.  I listen to NFL Radio and the Fantasy sports channel all the time on Sirius and every host on every show is saying that Young needs more help.  That he can't do it alone.  It's pretty much the same thing they said about Fields, and I believe that's fair.

I don't blame Bears fans either.  They gave him 1 year with DJ Moore, that's it.  They draft Williams, and then draft Odunze and trade for Keenan Allen, plus add another 3rd round OL.  The talent around Williams is already 5x better than what Fields ever had to work with.  On top of that, they fire his HC and OC after Y1.  Going further, the OC that Eberflus hired, he's gone now too.  Keep in mind, Y2, Fields got MVP votes.  The Bears could've gotten a mint for that #1 pick.  They could've been set up for great drafts for 3 years.

I was talking more of people here.  People like us.  Everyone has basically came to the conclusion that hes a bust.  I am one too that think he probably is not going to be great.

The MVP votes for Fields were hilarious.  Fields stinks.  He was good in fantasy where running is premium.  

I wish the Bears would have stuck with Fields.  Not because I think Caleb is a HOFer.  But because Fields was proven to be mediocre at best.  Mostly because of his legs.  

GMs around the league were unable to identify his coaching and cast as to why he wasnt good.  Maybe they all missed that.  Because no one wanted Fields.  

[seafoam1 2,523]

2 hours ago, TBayXXXVII said:

Then you're reading and hearing things I'm not.  I listen to NFL Radio and the Fantasy sports channel all the time on Sirius and every host on every show is saying that Young needs more help.  That he can't do it alone.  It's pretty much the same thing they said about Fields, and I believe that's fair.

I don't blame Bears fans either.  They gave him 1 year with DJ Moore, that's it.  They draft Williams, and then draft Odunze and trade for Keenan Allen, plus add another 3rd round OL.  The talent around Williams is already 5x better than what Fields ever had to work with.  On top of that, they fire his HC and OC after Y1.  Going further, the OC that Eberflus hired, he's gone now too.  Keep in mind, Y2, Fields got MVP votes.  The Bears could've gotten a mint for that #1 pick.  They could've been set up for great drafts for 3 years.

He's mixing up Bear's fans who maybe wanted to build a team first over drafting a QB this year. 

Anyway if Caleb Williams wins just one conference championship game he'll be tied with Aaron Rodgers. 

 

[listen2me 23 1,756]

2 minutes ago, seafoam1 said:

I don't know any Bears fans that wanted to keep him. And most of my friends are Bears fans. How is it you cheeseheads know so many?

There was a solid chunk of fans banging the drum to keep him. All over twitter.  There were a couple Bears fans here who wanted to keep him. Hawkeye being one.  A few other non bears fans here said they should keep Fields.  

Im not saying a majority wanted to keep him.  But a sizeable chunk of their fans certainly did.  Maybe neither of your 2 friends.  

[seafoam1 2,523]

43 minutes ago, listen2me 23 said:

eThere was a solid chunk of fans banging the drum to keep him. All over twitter.  There were a couple Bears fans here who wanted to keep him. Hawkeye being one.  A few other non bears fans here said they should keep Fields.  

Im not saying a majority wanted to keep him.  But a sizeable chunk of their fans certainly did.  Maybe neither of your 2 friends.  

The arguments I heard to keep him were more about building the team first, then getting a QB. I even suggested once or twice that maybe they keep him if they don't like this QB class. But in the end I just couldn't see doing that. I got kind of turned off of Fields' loner type character and how he couldn't get along with the backup QBs.

But I'm sure there are Fields fans out there. So...

2 more friends than you ever had. Unless you count your blow up Aaron Rodgers doll. 

[polecatt 471]

1 hour ago, seafoam1 said:

Did you watch it?

I saw some of it.

He was impressive, but Austin Reed was about as good. I'm not saying there's gonna be a QB controversy or anything, but that just tells me I need to see a bit more before I say he's gonna be anything.

[seafoam1 2,523]

Just now, polecatt said:

I saw some of it.

He was impressive, but Austin Reed was about as good. I'm not saying there's gonna be a QB controversy or anything, but that just tells me I need to see a bit more before I say he's gonna be anything.

Absolutely. But it's football talk time again and it's fun. 

[jrokh 596]

That off-schedule play to Kmet was a big time throw. I moved him up a few notches in the ranks. Id rather him than someone like Justin Herbert…

[weepaws 3,005]

16 minutes ago, jrokh said:

That off-schedule play to Kmet was a big time throw. I moved him up a few notches in the ranks. Id rather him than someone like Justin Herbert…

I would pick him over an injured Qb. 

[polecatt 471]

51 minutes ago, seafoam1 said:

Absolutely. But it's football talk time again and it's fun. 

Amen to that!

[seafoam1 2,523]

1 minute ago, polecatt said:

Amen to that!

I talk a lot about the Bears because I follow them closely, I'm all for others objectively talking a lot about the teams they follow. 

Even last year in September I posted how aweful the Bears positional coaching staff was and it turned out to be that way. They dumped almost all of them. 

It's good to hear from people who pay close attention to their teams. 

[listen2me 23 1,756]

Im in no way trashing Williams.  He looked the part.  Hes supposed to be one of the best prospects in years.  So not that surprising.  

But it is preseason.  Penix and Bo Nix tore it up as well. They are the real deal too apparently.  

[seafoam1 2,523]

Just now, listen2me 23 said:

Im in no way trashing Williams.  He looked the part.  Hes supposed to be one of the best prospects in years.  So not that surprising.  

But it is preseason.  Penix and Bo Nix tore it up as well. They are the real deal too apparently.  

I always liked Nix and may just try to get him in my auction league as a #2.  And in my dynasty I got Penix in my rookie draft at 2.9. I'm a big fan of both. 

[polecatt 471]

15 minutes ago, seafoam1 said:

I talk a lot about the Bears because I follow them closely, I'm all for others objectively talking a lot about the teams they follow. 

Even last year in September I posted how aweful the Bears positional coaching staff was and it turned out to be that way. They dumped almost all of them. 

It's good to hear from people who pay close attention to their teams. 

I understand. If I were a Bears fan I would be excited too.

I'm a Cowboys fan, and it kind of reminds me of when Dak was a rookie. I was convinced he was a HOFer after his first

I knew Romo was done and that we needed a QB and all it took was one game, so I know where you're coming from

I've certainly criticized him plenty over the years though. He's good not great, maybe Caleb will be great.

[seafoam1 2,523]

7 minutes ago, polecatt said:

I understand. If I were a Bears fan I would be excited too.

I'm a Cowboys fan, and it kind of reminds me of when Dak was a rookie. I was convinced he was a HOFer after his first

I knew Romo was done and that we needed a QB and all it took was one game, so I know where you're coming from

I've certainly criticized him plenty over the years though. He's good not great, maybe Caleb will be great.

12 wins a year ain't bad. WTF does it take for them to win in the playoffs? Sometimes I wonder if Andy Reid or Bill Belichick had been their coach how many superbowls would they would have been in over the last few years. 

[polecatt 471]

24 minutes ago, seafoam1 said:

12 wins a year ain't bad. WTF does it take for them to win in the playoffs? Sometimes I wonder if Andy Reid or Bill Belichick had been their coach how many superbowls would they would have been in over the last few years. 

Dak is the kind of guy that can really light it up against mediocre and bad teams, He can get completely stumped by a good team. The whole team is that way for the most part. That and Jason Garrett was a horrendous coach, and he was there forever. McCarthy I think is better in the Xs and Os department, but he doesn't always make the best decisions.

[seafoam1 2,523]

6 minutes ago, polecatt said:

Dak is the kind of guy that can really light it up against mediocre and bad teams, He can get completely stumped by a good team. The whole team is that way for the most part. That and Jason Garrett was a horrendous coach, and he was there forever. McCarthy I think is better in the Xs and Os department, but he doesn't always make the best decisions.

Yeah, they are the kind of team that are built to win, but they NEED a stellar coach to win it all. The Bills of old. The Dolphins of now. Even the 49ers to a degree. 

It really does usually need great coaching to win the whole thing and then to repeat it. That is not easy. 

Unrelated to Dallas: I am not saying Eberflus for the Bears has proved to be that good, but what he did keeping that team together through a complete tear down, is commendable. Not one of the players got problematic except for Claypool and they shipped him the fock out after he started whining. It's such an  unnoticed thing about the Bears last year. They had some weirdo defensive coordinator that was caught up in something personal and Eberflus all of a sudden turned their defense into a top 5 in the last 6 or 7 games. Everyone stayed positive and focused. I've never seen teams struggle so much yet work so well towards the future. 

Dallas needs a coaching leader on the field and Jerry Jones needs to pull a Joe Biden and disappear into the nether regions of his basement.  

[polecatt 471]

55 minutes ago, seafoam1 said:

Yeah, they are the kind of team that are built to win, but they NEED a stellar coach to win it all. The Bills of old. The Dolphins of now. Even the 49ers to a degree. 

It really does usually need great coaching to win the whole thing and then to repeat it. That is not easy. 

Unrelated to Dallas: I am not saying Eberflus for the Bears has proved to be that good, but what he did keeping that team together through a complete tear down, is commendable. Not one of the players got problematic except for Claypool and they shipped him the fock out after he started whining. It's such an  unnoticed thing about the Bears last year. They had some weirdo defensive coordinator that was caught up in something personal and Eberflus all of a sudden turned their defense into a top 5 in the last 6 or 7 games. Everyone stayed positive and focused. I've never seen teams struggle so much yet work so well towards the future. 

Dallas needs a coaching leader on the field and Jerry Jones needs to pull a Joe Biden and disappear into the nether regions of his basement.  

Definitely, Jerry is the new Al Davis almost.

The Bears it seems to me have often had talent. Just not always at the right spots. Or they are severely lacking at key spots. The QB history is well noted. It also seems to me that they have often lacked on the offensive line as well. The days of winning with a killer defense and mediocre offense are long gone. The Bears have had some pretty decent coaches over the years, they just haven't had the talent they needed on offense. They seem to have done a pretty job though of acquiring talent, or at least potential. If Caleb pans out, and they can keep an OL together, they should be in the playoffs in the near future

[gcmmidwest 146]

7 hours ago, seafoam1 said:

This is a little dump off? 

Did you see the game?

I was more impressed with the slide and getting out of bounds ... Staying healthy through a season goes a long ways 

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/FFKHnYGzcsTB8Eyr/?mibextid=oFDknk

[seafoam1 2,523]

2 minutes ago, gcmmidwest said:

I was more impressed with the slide and getting out of bounds ... Staying healthy through a season goes a long ways 

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/FFKHnYGzcsTB8Eyr/?mibextid=oFDknk

I can see that. I was very happy as a Bears fan to see him slide untouched. 

Russel Wilson was great at that. 

[seafoam1 2,523]

 

 

'Outstanding': Bears rave over Caleb Williams' preseason debut

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- Chicago Bears wide receiver DJ Moore couldn't help but heap superlatives onto rookie quarterback Caleb Williams' preseason debut.

Williams' overall performance? "Outstanding," Moore said.

The quarterback's ability to make throws on the run, which resulted in his best throw of the day, a 26-yard strike to tight end Cole Kmet? "Second to none," the receiver claimed.

While Williams was more reserved in analyzing how he played during two series of Chicago's 33-6 win over the Buffalo Bills, the No. 1 pick walked away from his NFL debut confident about the direction he and the Bears' offense are headed.

"There's an understanding that it is preseason, that everybody's not going to show their looks and what they would do versus us and vice versa," Williams said. "But it definitely feels good to get out there. The last time I was out there on the field other than practice was Nov. 18. You go that long without something, it's tough.

"But it's been great. The guys have made it fun, they made it easy on me -- talking about our other players -- they've been great from the beginning to now. My progress, I would tie my progress and support, I would count it to them. They've been great. To get out there and have the confidence that we had out there, it's only going to get better and we can't wait."

Williams completed 4 of 7 passes for 95 yards (101.8 passer rating) and ripped off a 13-yard scramble in 20 snaps (including penalties) on Saturday. His passing stats would have looked even stronger had it not been for two dropped passes.

"He went out there on the rollout that I dropped and it was a perfect ball," Moore said. "Got to have those."

Williams' first completion came while facing third-and-long after a holding penalty on the Bears' first series put the offense behind the chains. He demonstrated pocket awareness and went through all of his progressions before finding Moore for a 12-yard gain.

That specific play demonstrated Williams' ability to battle back, according to Bears coach Matt Eberflus.

"It's the fruits of his labor," Eberflus said. "He's been working his tail off in practices and even before that, all through the summer. It's good to be able to say that hey, all this drill work, all the things I've been doing, it's paying off and I can see the improvements. We're going to look at this tape and look back and say, what can I learn from this? There's a lot of things you can learn from this process in getting these reps, as he does in practice when he's going against the 1 defense."

On back-to-back drives, Williams led the Bears into the red zone. A run play that was stopped on third-and-1 and an incomplete pass to rookie receiver Rome Odunze put Chicago in position to kick two field goals to take a 6-0 lead before Williams' day was over.

"There's certainly positivity there," Eberflus said of Williams' debut. "We're not going to squash that. I do feel like we have a lot of work to do and a lot of things to accomplish as a football team, not just Caleb. We all got to play good around him. It's important that we keep improving before that first game."

Williams' confidence stood out to teammates on an afternoon where high winds swirled inside Highmark Stadium and a nearly full crowd created a loud environment for the rookie's debut. The quarterback was loud and precise in delivering calls in the huddle and exuded a confidence felt by teammates.

Chicago plans to get Williams between 45 and 55 snaps in its remaining preseason games against Cincinnati and Kansas City. The Bears host the Bengals on Thursday in a joint practice where the quarterback aims to build on the momentum he gained in his debut.

"You have to understand where we are and understand what we have and where we are headed," Williams said. "It's the most important thing. But you also have to be where your feet are. When you're out there on the field, when you're preparing for this game, you're enjoying it, you're having fun, you're having a blast. We take a step back when we get in tomorrow.

"We take a step back, we go through the tape and then on to the next. On to the next preseason [game] and then you take it from there and you keep growing, keep growing, keep growing and you just keep counting those days, counting those hours and get after it."

 

[Maximum Overkill 1,363]

Nobody should be shocked. This is exactly what he did in college and exactly what the scouting reports read. He’s got that Mahomes in him: 

[listen2me 23 1,756]

Fields had a much better preseason debut.  

[Maximum Overkill 1,363]

7 hours ago, listen2me 23 said:

Fields had a much better preseason debut.  

A lot Quarterbacks have, they aren’t Caleb Williams 

[listen2me 23 1,756]

4 hours ago, Maximum Overkill said:

A lot Quarterbacks have, they aren’t Caleb Williams 

I get that.  My point is....justin fields said he thought thr game was slow to him and was waaaay more productive than Williams in his first outing.

Maximum point is....its preseason.  

[listen2me 23 1,756]

Caleb got them 2 FGs.  Fields had 1 throwing 1 rushing td.   Was on field for 17 pts.