Even the most optimistic assessments of Bears quarterback Caleb Williams can't account for one simple fact.
Williams is not simply a rookie, but he has never even done so much of what they asked him to do at such a high level.
"I started going back to OTAs in April, we were having trouble," Bears tight end Cole Kmet said. "Obviously with Caleb first coming in, new to under-center stuff, new to the huddle, new to the cadence thing."
They are basic requirements of football and they had to start from scratch with Williams because his colleges had been shotgun oriented with plays called at the line.
"So, those are all new and I think we grew past that coming out of OTAs," Kmet said. "Coming into camp I think we've had our ups and downs but I think we've been going upwards along the way."
It's going to take more for the Bears to succeed with Williams at quarterback this year, however. The normal inexperience issues will surface in numerous ways. He identified one of those himself. He said he needs to work on blitz pickup. Welcome to the NFL. All rookies do, if not many veterans.
Williams does have a chance, though. It's because he has a great deodorizer on his side.
Sure, he has all the weapons at wide receiver, three capable tight ends and an explosive running back or two. But the Bears have something else backing him that few rookie QBs ever have.
Their defense expects to be top five in the league. They have been talking about it since last season and even with a secondary that didn't have injured Kyler Gordon, Tyrique Stevenson and Jaquan Brisker for at least the later part of Thursday's joint practice, they held their own against Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow.
"The high-level football we’ve played so far is really to be expected on my end, just watching us day-in and day-out going to work," safety Kevin Byard said. "So we just have to keep it going, make sure guys stay healthy, get everybody back. We still have a couple of guys we need to get back, and just keep working. But like I said, I’m excited about this group for sure."
At Thursday's practice with the Bengals, Kmet heard praise for the Bears defense from a very good offensive team. It's apparently a defense ready to stand up to the best offenses, and the Bengals represent this.
"Their guys over there were raving about our defense," Kmet said. "I think we do have a really good defense and you look at the guys that we got, I think it can be a really special crew this year. From the guys we got in the back end and obviously when we added Montez (Sweat) in the middle of last year what that did for our run game and obviously what he can do sack-wise to get to the quarterback.
"So, those guys are tough to go against every day and they play really hard, and I feel like we're going against the best defense in the league every day we come out to practice. That only benefits us."
It's the old iron sharpens iron thing all over again, except the defense does more than the make their own defense stronger through practice. They give mistake-prone rookies second and third chances with the ball in games by taking it away, or with a three-and-out.
When Caleb Stroud became the rookie of all rookies last year, he was backed by a defense that finished 11th in points allowed, 14th overall, sixth against the run and second in yards allowed per rush. Just one year earlier they were 30th defensively overall, 27th in scoring and last against the run.
Fifth in the league sounds fine, but anything close can make a huge difference.
"At the end of the day, a goal is just a goal," Byard said. "It's something we're putting out there, something we're working toward, but at the end of the day, we've got to go out there and prove it. And that's what we're trying to do every single day.
"Every team in the league is saying they want to be No. 1, you know what I mean? We have the talent to do it for sure. We have the work ethic to do it. It’s all about going out there and proving it and doing it on game day because that's when it matters the most."
Tf they do, it could be exactly the kind of crutch a new offense pieced together for a rookie quarterback needs to live up to all the hype building after only one preseason appearance.
