How's everyone feel about Bear's starting QB Caleb Williams?

[Zanary]

I think his emotions/enabling are going to make him hilarious combination of Fields and Cutler, and I'm not concerned about him being any kind of legacy QB.

[StickierBuns]

I think his emotions/enabling are going to make him hilarious combination of Fields and Cutler, and I'm not concerned about him being any kind of legacy QB.

You might be right. He's an odd duck that way. It will be interesting to see.

[JR44]

I think his emotions/enabling are going to make him hilarious combination of Fields and Cutler, and I'm not concerned about him being any kind of legacy QB.

Not sure where you are getting that?  Are you basing that off one picture of him crying with his mom after a game, a moment in which despite knowing he was going to be the #1 pick, he still felt that strongly about winning that he took the elimination loss that hard. Personally, it made me an even bigger fan.  I have watched every snap, he has a cool, calm demeanor and is an awesome individual on and off the field. Some can bask in ignorance about him, but I have been fortunate to experience the reality of the player and person he is.

[Godhead]

The Bears are the only team to never have 4000 yard passer.
I think CW might do it as a rookie.

[StickierBuns]

Not sure where you are getting that?  Are you basing that off one picture of him crying with his mom after a game, a moment in which despite knowing he was going to be the #1 pick, he still felt that strongly about winning that he took the elimination loss that hard. Personally, it made me an even bigger fan.  I have watched every snap, he has a cool, calm demeanor and is an awesome individual on and off the field. Some can bask in ignorance about him, but I have been fortunate to experience the reality of the player and person he is.

You're right, its probably not fair to judge if you haven't watched a lot of his games. I've only read a few things along those lines and who knows if they're even accurate. He seems like a jovial kid. His personality is probably more eclectic that most QBs, but that doesn't mean it has to be bad.

[rf54]

I think you forgot Kyler Murray who is about 5-10 in cleats.

Some of the guys on this list had a career because they could scramble to buy time and find open guys they couldn't see when they were standing behind linemen who were several inches taller than they were.

Williams can certainly run around back there.  Watching his college stuff I was reminded of none other than Fran the Man.

But I don't have a prediction on how he'll be as a pro.

Sorry, I should have put that list as the top QBs 6ft and under...  Not my list but a decent one.  My point is that even with some great QBs under 6 ft, they do not have a long list of titles.  Only 2 Lombarcies in the last 20 years.

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Except Williams is taller than all those guys at 6-1.

yeah, he is 6ft and 7/8ths so....

[Havoc]

Williams is over 6-1. I don’t know where this 6’ stuff is coming from, but it isn’t reality.

I suspect it will be a lot of “wow” and a lot of “wtf” coming from Bear fans.

I don’t see Mahomes in his game at all. Very few similarities actually. Mahomes has incredible vision and he hits plays quick. Caleb does not. He’s great outside the pocket running around with time, but he’s inconsistent seeing it and doing it quickly. It’s there, then it’s not for a couple of plays. He has a lot to work in this respect.

People like to say he had a bad oline in college, but the truth is he had about the same amount of time as an average NFL QB has. This again will necessitate him adapting to a new style of play where he isn’t scrambling every down. He can be a good pocket passer, but I’m not sure how comfortable he will be staying in there at the next level.

His scrambling in college is one thing, at the next level it’s a completely different game. The players, especially defensive lineman and LBers are much faster than what he is used to seeing. Caleb is better than Johnny Menziel, but their scrambling playing style is similar and we saw how much things changed for Johnny moving up.

Lastly, and this is by far his biggest challenge, he needs to learn how to protect the ball. He was stripped a ton in college, Unless he changes it will go up exponentially this year. He’s very careless and it’s an ingrained habit. Lord knows his college coach was on him to stop waving it out there, but he couldn’t stop himself. When it comes to throwing interceptions he’ll need to learn what he can and can’t do. When I watched his tape, he had a crazy number of throws that would be picked off in the NFL.

At the end of the day, he’s got the arm talent and accuracy to be successful. If he takes coaching well, he should develop into a good player.

[StickierBuns]

Williams is over 6-1. I don’t know where this 6’ stuff is coming from, but it isn’t reality.

I suspect it will be a lot of “wow” and a lot of “wtf” coming from Bear fans.

I don’t see Mahomes in his game at all. Very few similarities actually. Mahomes has incredible vision and he hits plays quick. Caleb does not. He’s great outside the pocket running around with time, but he’s inconsistent seeing it and doing it quickly. It’s there, then it’s not for a couple of plays. He has a lot to work in this respect.

People like to say he had a bad oline in college, but the truth is he had about the same amount of time as an average NFL QB has. This again will necessitate him adapting to a new style of play where he isn’t scrambling every down. He can be a good pocket passer, but I’m not sure how comfortable he will be staying in there at the next level.

His scrambling in college is one thing, at the next level it’s a completely different game. The players, especially defensive lineman and LBers are much faster than what he is used to seeing. Caleb is better than Johnny Menziel, but their scrambling playing style is similar and we saw how much things changed for Johnny moving up.

Lastly, and this is by far his biggest challenge, he needs to learn how to protect the ball. He was stripped a ton in college, Unless he changes it will go up exponentially this year. He’s very careless and it’s an ingrained habit. Lord knows his college coach was on him to stop waving it out there, but he couldn’t stop himself. When it comes to throwing interceptions he’ll need to learn what he can and can’t do. When I watched his tape, he had a crazy number of throws that would be picked off in the NFL.

At the end of the day, he’s got the arm talent and accuracy to be successful. If he takes coaching well, he should develop into a good player.

Appreciate the insight, Havoc. Its interesting how different you and JR's opinions are on this guy.

[purplefaithful]

I may not have a good lines of site on this - but CW and the city of Chicago just seem like a mis-match culturally...

Time will tell...To me, he seems like a good kid with significant upside.

Maybe the Bears got this right after Trubisky and Fields.

[MaroonBells]

I may not have a good lines of site on this - but CW and the city of Chicago just seem like a mis-match culturally...

Time will tell...To me, he seems like a good kid with significant upside.

Maybe the Bears got this right after Trubisky and Fields.

Winning in the only culture that matters. If he does that, nobody will give a damn what color his fingernails are. If he doesn't win, all of those eccentricities are going to be magnified and targeted by fans and media. 

I think anyone who says with certainty that Williams will be great or a bust is full of shit. Personally, I've never seen anything like him. His athletic instincts are unmatched. But will that translate to the NFL? Nobody knows. Do you force him into structure and debilitate what makes him special? Or do you let him play his game and he becomes just another athlete at QB no different than the last guy you had?