Caleb Williams learning what he can after being named Bears’ starter (0:35)Caleb Williams explains that he is trying to learn as much as possible after being named the Bears’ starting quarterback. (0:35)
LAKE FOREST, Ill. — Ahead of rookie minicamp Friday, Bears coach Matt Eberflus wasted no time in naming Caleb Williams as Chicago’s starting quarterback.
“No conversation,” Eberflus said. “He’s the starter.”
Eberflus’ declaration confirmed the inevitable decision for the Bears after they drafted the 2022 Heisman Trophy winner with the No. 1 pick last month. Williams was the only quarterback the Bears hosted on a top-30 visit, and Chicago was the only team Williams visited ahead of the draft. Bears coaches began teaching the former USC quarterback their offense ahead of his pro day in Los Angeles and again while Williams visited Halas Hall in early April.
1 Related
Williams also took it upon himself to work with his private quarterback coach, Will Hewlett, on the fundamentals of the Bears’ offense before taking the field for this weekend’s minicamp.
“You always want to get ahead if you can, and so with those things that they gave me, I would take it to my QB trainer and we would use the cadence, we would use the drops, we would use all those things so that’s not something that’s on my mind throughout the process of when I actually got here,” Williams said.
Eberflus said the Bears gave Williams and Hewlett the basics of the offense, which the quarterback said included the verbiage, route tree, cadence, and how to operate in and out of the huddle.
The head start has given Williams the confidence to help others learn the offense at the rookie minicamp.
“Right now I feel pretty good,” Williams said. “Obviously we’ll go out here today, and we’re going to have a few mess-ups, probably, and things like that, working to do, eliminate those as fast as possible. But you need those things to grow and progress throughout the time and years and things like that. So excited, but I feel pretty good right now.”
Eberflus said the Bears have several benchmarks they expect Williams to reach over the next few months ahead of training camp.
“Full understanding of the concepts: run, pass, checks and his fundamentals,” Eberflus said. “The fundamentals that we have in place for him, which, he’s really good fundamentally, but we have some things we want him to work on and improve as well.”
ESPN BET is operated by PENN Entertainment, Inc. and its subsidiaries (‘PENN’). ESPN BET is available in states where PENN is licensed to offer sports wagering. Must be 21+ to wager. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER.
Copyright: © 2024 ESPN Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved.
www.espn.com – NFLRead More