ESPN's Seth Wickersham is at it again. Seattle Seahawks fans might remember him from a report he did on the team in the 2010s when he made everything negative out of a positive decade for Seattle. He was giving the facts, he said, and 12s could like it or not.
Wickersham likes to explore the shadows of the NFL world, noodling every ounce of iffiness out of a story. That doesn't mean he is wrong, though. It also makes him popular.
His latest target is the situation of Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams. In the writer's new book, American Kings - A Biography of the Quarterback, he talks about the lead-up to the 2024 NFL draft, one in which Williams was taken first overall by the Bears. Chicago had no long-time history of great quarterback play, and Williams was sure to change that.
Seahawks fans could have warned Caleb Williams about Shane Waldron
The problem was that the Williams family was reportedly not certain about the quarterback's future with Chicago. The team was seemingly poorly run, with a recent rotation of head coaches and one who was not certain to keep his job much longer, Matt Eberflus. The team also needed to hire a new offensive coordinator, and this is where the Seahawks got involved.
After the 2023 season, Seattle has relieved Pete Carroll of his head coaching duties. Leaving with Carroll was offensive coordinator Shane Waldron. Carroll had hired Waldron from the Los Angeles Rams, and Waldron had been Seattle's OC for three seasons.
Instead of bringing the Rams' versatility to Seattle, Waldron was another pass-happy OC who focused too much on the Seahawks' wide receivers. That group was good, but the offensive line was not. Waldron appeared to have no answer to how to adjust once his offense struggled due to a quarterback who threw the ball too much and was under duress too much.
As it turns out, the Seahawks hired Waldron 2.0 in Ryan Grubb in 2024. Grubb was rightfully fired after last season, though. Klint Kubiak, who likes to run the ball more and incorporate his tight ends more, was hired.
Meanwhile, the Bears hired Waldron and gave him the chance to coach Williams. The poor rookie deserved better. He should have had an OC who knew how to get him efficiently and safely adjusted to the speed and ability of NFL defenders. Waldron hung Williams out with his play-calling, and the quarterback was sacked 68 times.
Waldron was fired before the season ended. He hasn't proven he should be an NFL offensive coordinator.
According to Wickersham, the Williams family felt trepidation with the initial hire of Waldron.
Wickersham said on the Rich Eisen show, "When Shane was brought in, the Williams family was underwhelmed by that choice." They were right.
Seahawks fans could have warned the Bears not to hire Waldron. Seattle wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba expressed as much after Chicago made the wrong choice to bring on the OC. JSN said when asked about Chicago's move, "Good luck to y'all." The sarcasm was easily felt. The Williams family would now fully agree with Smith-Njigba.
