Three weeks of NFL has people tripping over each other to give their best opinion. It’s a good time to calm the crowd, especially when it comes to young quarterbacks (except for Jaguars fans).
That’s where Four Verts’ column begins this week, with a trip to Chicago to get people excited about the future of their franchise.
Caleb Williams is outperforming people
Everyone, let’s calm down for a moment. It’s time to realize that NFL fans may be a little spoiled by young quarterbacks like Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, and Lamar Jackson reaching elite status so early in their careers. That’s not the normal developmental path. Most baby quarterbacks need some experience, reps, and a lot of practice before they reach the top of the game, which is a big reason why the NFL passing game is down right now. There’s no reason to look at any of these guys with a sense of despair, even with Jayden Daniels having a breakout performance on national television that many young players haven’t had up until now.
That’s especially true for Bears rookie Caleb Williams, who currently ranks near the bottom of the NFL’s efficiency charts, leaving people wondering after three games whether Chicago might have drafted the wrong player. Phew. Breathe. It’s healthy for you. Take it easy. Feel the wind. It’s far too early to make that call, and frankly, there’s no reason to panic about Williams just yet.
The overall numbers have been poor so far. Williams currently ranks 29th in expected points per dropback (-0.34) per NFL Pro’s Qualified Passers rankings — only Will Levis (-0.44) and Bryce Young (-0.60) are worse in terms of efficiency. Part of that can be attributed to Williams, who is still testing the limits of what’s possible for him at the NFL level. Part of that can be attributed to a poor performance from the Bears’ offensive line, particularly the interior, which has been poor so far this season. Some of that blame can be attributed to health, as the Bears haven’t had their full arsenal of wide receivers thus far.
Despite all of these facts, Williams has steadily improved since his first start against the Titans and even had a good game against the Colts, despite the fact that the Bears managed to score just 16 points as Williams threw the ball 52 times.
The playmaking is still evident with Williams and he was finally able to generate some big plays in the passing game to fellow rookie Rome Odunze. He managed the pressure well for the most part in their loss to the Colts. His work in the pocket was a big selling point for him coming out of USC and that part is starting to translate to the NFL level. There’s no reason to worry about Williams’ future, or even his present, as long as people just give him a chance to struggle a little bit and potentially put up bad numbers as a rookie.
In a way, Williams is experiencing the same thing Trevor Lawrence did in Jacksonville. The expectations before the draft were So It’s huge that anything less than coming in as a top-10 quarterback feels like a disappointment. Still, there are enough positives in Williams’ game that people should just sit back and let him go through the process of acclimating to the NFL. Just watch a few of these plays from the Colts game and take a deep breath.
Jayden Daniels is doing exactly what the Commanders need right now
Look! A young quarterback putting up some big numbers! Jayden Daniels has gotten off to a strong start this season, as the Commanders have a surprising 2-1 record. Daniels has shown the level of play that the Commanders were hoping for when they selected him second overall, and Washington’s offense has finally been able to have a breakout game on national television that wouldn’t have been possible without him.
Sure, the Bengals’ defense is terrible. That’s undoubtedly true. However, they’re still only the third pro-level defense Daniels has faced in his career so far, and he completed 21 of his 23 pass attempts with a dime downfield to Terry McLaurin to tie the game late in the fourth quarter. After a more conservative approach in his first two games, Daniels let loose against the Bengals, averaging 9.2 air yards per attempt and taking chances downfield. He looked more like the Daniels who ignited the SEC en route to a Heisman Trophy, which is a huge sign for Commanders fans.
The game plan played to his strengths. Daniels throws great deep passes down the sideline and can also operate quickly in the short passing game, as offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury likes to do. Daniels didn’t throw much to the middle of the field, but he took what the Bengals gave him and was a little more disciplined in his scramble attempts. There’s still room to maneuver in terms of handling pressure, but he did a good job of not taking many negative plays against Cincinnati.
In a year where many young quarterbacks seem to be playing recklessly or carelessly, Daniels was able to turn in an efficient, aggressive game that showed the Commanders had finally found their man after years of struggling since Kirk Cousins left for Minnesota. Beating up a terrible defense is exactly what a player who was drafted where Daniels was supposed to be doing.
If Daniels can repeat that feat a few more times this season, he’ll be named Offensive Rookie of the Year. That would make a certain writer of this column look ridiculous, since he may or may not have said the Commanders would go first in the 2025 NFL Draft.
Jaguars were just pathetic Monday night
There’s nothing worse than watching a team that simply has no pulse. The Jaguars put on a pathetic performance against the Bills, getting blown out 47-10 on Monday Night Football in a game that somehow didn’t even feel as close as the score. It never was a game, as Jacksonville’s offense went belly-up once again and the defense allowed five straight touchdown drives to start the game.
This continues the Jaguars’ extreme downward trend since the end of last season. They were 8-3 after Week 12 and have won just one game since then — against Bryce Young and the Panthers. For a team whose owner claimed to have the best roster in franchise history, this season has been an unmitigated disaster so far. There’s no reason why this collection of players should be blown out to this degree by any team in the league, but certainly not when they’re already 0-2 and desperate for a win.
This team performs way below the expectations they set for themselves and what outside media suggested was possible. At 0-3 after a 37-point loss, it feels like the bottom has fallen out for this Jaguars team, and it’s hard to know where to lay the blame for their failures — so everyone should get their fair share.
Trevor Lawrence simply hasn’t been good enough this season. He’s far too talented to struggle to pass for 200 yards every game. The offense isn’t built to overcome his inconsistencies, which have been too common this season. It’s too early to write him off as a career, but that needs to change soon.
That will be tough, though, as long as head coach Doug Pederson and offensive coordinator Press Taylor can’t find a rhythm as play-callers and orchestrators of the offense. At some point, they’re going to have to accept the blame for how out of whack the offense is instead of trying to blame the quarterback.
Jacksonville’s defense is likely better than what it showed on Monday, but the Jaguars will have to adjust their style of play as they deal with cornerback Tyson Campbell missing time with an injury. They don’t really have the horses to play man coverage right now, which should be their bread and butter for the season.
It’s all bad for the Jaguars, but the most concerning thing is how hopeless and lifeless they looked on the field. Something needs to change here, and it probably starts with the head coach who can’t seem to get his team to perform at an inspiring level.
Raiders’ QB gamble already causing stress in their season
No one is really surprised that the Raiders are here, right? Well, maybe we are surprised that a loss to the Panthers is a moment that prompts the team to reflect, but the decision to open the season with a quarterback competition featuring Aidan O’Connell and Gardner Minshew has yielded what most people expected: not much.
Head coach Antonio Pierce was dejected after the preseason, and three weeks into this experiment, it appears he was angry for good reason. Neither Minshew nor O’Connell have the power to give the Raiders the season they want, something most people already knew.
Those concerns only grow when you take a 36-22 loss to a previously unlucky Carolina. Minshew was ultimately pulled from the game in favor of O’Connell, but it appears Minshew will remain the starter for the time being as Pierce considers the “business decisions” he needs to make to improve this team for the immediate future.
What this game really showed is that the Raiders simply aren’t good enough around the quarterback to weather inconsistent and poor play from that position. Thirty-six points to the Carolina Panthers! Andy Dalton is a definite improvement over Bryce Young, but this Carolina team is hardly the Greatest Show on Turf. That game suggested that the defense still has a lot of room for improvement, which is a hard fact to swallow when they already have star players like Christian Wilkins.
The problem is that there is no one to come to the rescue of the Raiders in their quest for better quarterback play. This is it. It’s not good enough. Everyone knows it, the head coach keeps saying it, and that’s about all that can be done. Unless they decide to go with Russell Wilson, it’s going to be another long season on offense in Las Vegas.
