Heading into the 2024 regular season, expectations were abundant for Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears. Unfortunately, none of those expectations came to fruition. The Bears finished the season with a 5-12 record, ranking last in the NFC North. Nevertheless, the longstanding face of Fox Sports, Colin Cowherd, suggests that Chicago’s situation is one of the easier ones to fix at the moment.
In light of Williams putting together some modest season totals, all while being sacked for a league-leading 68 times, Cowherd claims that if they can “just cut the sacks in half,” then the Bears will be just fine.
“With Caleb Williams, it was such a mess last year. Just cut the sacks in half, I don’t care about anything else. Maybe I’m being a little over the top, but when people suggest they want him to go to 30 touchdowns and 4,000 yards, I don’t care. The sacks are everything to me.”
While Chicago certainly needs to do a better job at protecting Williams and giving him a fair chance in the pocket, former quarterback and three-time Pro Bowler Matt Hasselbeck suggests that there are still plenty of other things for Williams to focus on in year two.
The importance of rhythm and vision to an NFL offense can never be overstated, so when the former face of the Seattle Seahawks began to evaluate Williams’ rookie tape, he was rather disheartened to see that the USC product was severely lacking in both.
“I think, early on, his eyes were in the wrong place. He didn’t look like he had a clear grasp of the protection schemes. I think that was a big part of it… What got him into trouble in the second part of the year was that he trusted in his athleticism too much. You saw these things where he got away with it at USC and you’re not going to get away with it in the NFL… He needs to play on time more.”
According to Hasselbeck, the recent changes made to the coaching staff should work in Williams’ favor, but there needs to be a more concerted effort to both simplify and understand the schemes that are being used. As far as Williams’ scrambling is concerned, the retired signal caller cautioned him to “save the playground stuff for when you absolutely need it.”
He also admitted to being concerned about Williams’ potential lack of leadership, noting that the “body language” of Williams was particularly worrisome. In order to avoid the perennial sophomore slump, Hasselbeck advises a bit more poise while also taking advantage of any “layup” or “free throw” opportunities that may come his way.
Simply put, a strong adherence to the fundamentals of both football and press relations could do wonders for this iteration of Chicago’s roster, which happens to be one of the youngest in the league today.
