The Chicago Bears have dozens of reasons to love rookie quarterback Caleb Williams, and one reason to be seriously concerned.
ESPN’s Seth Walder authored a “bold prediction” that Williams’ proclivity for holding onto the football too long while trying to stretch out plays and make big gains will cost the team significantly in the early going and lead to misdirected criticisms of the offensive line.
“Williams will have at least a 10% sack rate through Week 6, which will elicit a public panic about the offensive line, even though the Bears’ pass block win rate will rank in the top half of the league,” Walder wrote on Tuesday, September 2. “The sacks will mostly be on Williams, who had a 7.3% sack rate in his final season at USC, not too far off from Justin Fields‘ 7.6% rate in his final season at Ohio State in 2020. I think Williams will be a star, but he tends to hold on to the ball for a while — just like his Chicago predecessor.”
Keenan Allen May Prove Answer to Caleb Williams’ Sack-Taking Tendencies
GettyChicago Bears wide receiver Keenan Allen.
Williams’ natural abilities, and his confidence in them, are liable to cause some problems when it comes to unnecessary sacks early in his first season. However, his lack of experience and the learning curve of reading NFL defenses is likely to be just as much of an issue.
Chicago has done a good job trying to alleviate those growing pains by surrounding Williams with a tremendous amount of pass-catching talent in wide receivers Keenan Allen, DJ Moore and rookie Rome Odunze, as well as tight end Cole Kmet.
Allen could be particularly valuable to Williams, as he also helped shepherd Justin Herbert through the first four years of his career. Herbert won Offensive Rookie of the Year honors in 2020, made a Pro Bowl the following season and finished ninth in MVP voting in 2022.
The ability of Allen, a six-time Pro Bowler, to constantly get open aided Herbert majorly as a young quarterback and it could help Williams in a similar fashion — particularly as a safety valve when his internal clock starts buzzing with alarm as opposing pass rushers close in.
“All the NFL coaches have seen Keenan for a lot of years, and the first thing that comes to mind is that he’s crafty,” Bears head coach Matt Eberflus said in June. “He is so crafty with his route running. It seems like he’s always open, even when I used to double cover him. … He’s really friendly to the quarterback because he’s a really big target and he’s very good at what he does.”
Bears Young Offensive Tackles Should Make Leap This Season
GettyChicago Bears left tackle Braxton Jones.
As far as the Bears offensive line goes, a bump in play from the two starting offensive tackles might also go a long way toward helping Williams find his footing and perfect his timing in the pocket early on.
Left tackle Braxton Jones is entering his third professional season, while right tackle and 2023 top-10 overall pick Darnell Wright is coming into his sophomore campaign. Jones and Wright finished last season ranked 34th and 52nd, respectively, out of 81 tackles who saw enough snaps to qualify at the position, per Pro Football Focus.
It stands to reason that, if healthy, both men should make another leap in 2024. Should that prove the case, the passing game could function better in Williams’ rookie season than Walder predicts.
