Sunday night's matchup between the Chicago Bears and Houston Texans highlighted two different young NFL quarterbacks in two very different positions.
One was Houston's C.J. Stroud, who was the NFL's offensive rookie of the year last season after leading an upstart Texans to the playoffs. The other, Caleb Williams, who the Bears took with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. He was experiencing his second game as an NFL starter, and it didn't go all that great.
Williams completed just 23-of-37 passes against Houston for 174 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions. He was also sacked seven times.
After the game, though, Stroud did his best to encourage the rookie quarterback. Yes, it was a bad game, but Stroud can see the talent that the Bears did when they took him No. 1 overall.
Taking hits like Williams did and struggling as he did is basically "taking your lumps" in the NFL and it's worth noting that Stroud's rookie year was an anomaly for a young quarterback. He's the exception to the rule. Young quarterbacks normally struggle in the league, so Williams' early struggles shouldn't be all that concerning to Bears fans.
Stroud knows better than most what a talented young NFL quarterback looks like, so if he sees that in Williams ... perhaps Chicago's quarterback will be okay after all.
