The Chicago Bears’ new starting quarterback, Caleb Williams, was bound to inspire some pushback from the rest of the NFL.
The hype he got– and still gets– as an incoming rookie was/is intense. The overall no. 1 pick in this year’s draft and former USC blue chip prospect has all the buzz, all the attention from media, and will be the focal point of the upcoming Hard Knocks reality show on HBO and Max.
Of course, he’s going to be sporting a target on his colorful, sometimes eccentric back.
They’re Coming To Get Caleb In Week 1
Tennessee Titans defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons recently gave voice to this ‘we’re coming to get him’ vibe in an appearance on The Rich Eisen Show.
“It’s going to be one of those games,” Simmons told Eisen.
“It’s going to be the first game of the season. The guy that’s coming to Chicago, all the hype is going to be around him, of course.
“A game like Chicago, I’m sure they’re thinking we’re about to get beat bad,” Simmons said, referring to his not-quite-elite (or playoff-likely) Titans. “So that makes me talk more smack and boosts me up a little more. It makes me be in a different mode, as well. So I’ll be in a different mode that game.”
“I get it,” Simmons added. “You got a first-round pick, Caleb Williams, himself, which is a great player.
“Watching a couple games when he was at USC, you know, he’s a hell of a player but this is a different league. I’m excited to play him the first game.
“That’s my mindset…I don’t care who it may be. It could be Tom Brady. First game of the season, I want to go out there and set the tone not just for him but for who we are trying to be as a defense and as a team in Tennessee.
“But like you said, it is one of them games where it’s his first real NFL game. I’m not out to hurt no one but at the same time our goal is to get to him…’welcome to the NFL.’”
The Packers Want Some, Too
Green Bay Packers edge rusher Rashan Gary also spoke to Eisen about facing Williams, but he was a bit more reserved and diplomatic than Simmons.
The Packers aren’t set to meet the Bears until week 11, November 17, at Soldier Field in Chicago. By then, insists Gary, they’ll have plenty of intel on the much talked-about QB1.
“[By then] We’re gonna have some good tape on him,” Gary said. “[A good] understanding of how the Bears want to run their offense through him, or if they’re going to be pass-heavy by that time or run-heavy by this time. So, we’re going to understand and have a better feel (for Williams) than what we would…Week 1.”
Gary was also willing to give the rookie praise for his talent and ability while anticipating a grand humbling.
“Great arm, great vision, you know, right now we’ve just got to still be able to contain him and still play our ball,” Gary said.
But when asked by Eisen whether he’d be the one to deliver Williams’ ‘welcome to the NFL moment,” Gary was short and to the point, uttering a stone cold “I hope so.”
With the steep learning curve ahead of Williams and every defender chomping at the bit to get a piece of him, Bears fans would be wise to lower their expectations as to what they may see from their new star QB.
The Chicago Bears’ (And The Fans’) (Un)realistic Expectations From Caleb Williams
NFL.com’s Eric Edholm touched on this in a recent piece.
“I’m not exactly sure where I’d rate the expectations for Caleb Williams in Year 1, but they feel high to me,” Edholm assessed. “Perhaps not Andrew Luck-level rookie hype here, but I believe expectations are higher for Williams in Year 1 than they were for Trevor Lawrence a few years ago. Those expectations should be muted more than they seem to be right now.
“The past seven quarterbacks drafted No. 1 overall, dating back to…2015, have produced an average Year 1 season of roughly 14 starts, 16 touchdown passes, 11 interceptions and about 3,100 pass yards.”
“Bears fans might want and expect immediate fireworks, but I’m here to say that the show might start a bit slowly,” wrote Edholm. “I’m not worried about Williams’ long-term projection. But I do believe the pressure to be great immediately comes from a chimerical perspective.”
Chimerical?
For those unfamiliar with the word, the dictionary definition is this: “Hoped for but illusory or impossible to achieve.”
In other words, Bears fans may want to slow their roll, at least until Caleb passes through his first wave of NFL pushback.
