LAKE FOREST, Ill. — Caleb Williams and his offense lined up on the 35-yard line to close out their first practice with protection with situational work.
Immediately after the No. 1 draft pick snapped the ball, the Chicago Bears’ pass rush began to swarm.
Williams grabbed the ball, ran to the right and hit the gas.
He didn’t look at the short or medium distance.
Williams threw a touchdown pass to receiver Tyler Scott, who got away from safety Jaquan Brisker just in time to reel in the ball.
Fans erupted in anger.
It’s not that Williams has completed every pass as he adjusts to a pro offense, nor that he’s yet to sense his receivers’ tendencies on their go balls. Williams and fellow 2024 first-round pick Rome Odunze, for example, missed a number of go balls during Thursday and Friday’s practices, which Yahoo Sports attended. Odunze explained that he and Williams needed to do a better job of communicating when to expect the ball over the top and when to back the shoulder; when his route would primarily dictate ball placement; and when the defense would show Williams something that Odunze’s vantage point wouldn’t allow.
The trainings in July are a good time to get to know each other’s preferences and try out new things.
But when Williams let Scott score another deep touchdown during training camp, members of the coaching staff thought to themselves: Look at his ability to extend the game. Look at his grasp of the field.
Earlier in camp, Williams had hit Scott with a similar deep ball. The read didn’t dictate that, but a mistake in coverage created an opportunity. Williams saw it in time and attacked.
“He had that natural feeling, that natural spatial awareness [that]”Hey, there’s a void that shouldn’t have been there based on what the coverage structure could have looked like, but it played out a little bit differently,” offensive coordinator Shane Waldron said. “He’s starting to get the feel of the tight throws that come with the NFL.
“He can find that for a big play.”
The Bears traded 2021 first-round pick Justin Fields to the Pittsburgh Steelers this offseason, clearing the way for Chicago to select Williams first.
They handed the 2022 Heisman Trophy winner the keys right away, and in some ways even sooner, sharing playbook information and terminology before the draft after determining he would be their selection.
The Bears designated Williams as their starting player before training camp, avoiding the wait-and-see nature many franchises take with their early picks.
Williams’ sky-high talent ceiling helped make that decision easier. So did the Bears’ perceived floor. While the first overall draft pick historically goes to the NFL’s last team spot, an earlier trade with the Carolina Panthers gave the Bears their pick of the litter despite finishing with better records than seven teams and the same as three others.
The result: a much more stable and talented cast around Williams.
“We’re extremely fortunate to be in the position we’re in,” assistant general manager Ian Cunningham told Yahoo Sports. “We had a good outlook and we were trying to maximize the draft position that we had in certain moves. And I think a little bit of that [was] We were lucky too, right?
“I think I can say that rightly.”
Now they want to capitalize on that combination of fortune and foresight, encouraging creativity on plays, including scrambling even more without hesitation than last year, backup quarterback Tyson Bagent told Yahoo Sports. The Bears also want Williams to grow in the pocket and continue to make plays within the rhythm and timing of the offense.
“You can tell a quarterback if he’s got happy feet or if he’s settled in the pocket,” cornerback Jaylon Johnson told Yahoo Sports. “And I think he’s really settled in, generally. Obviously, if it collapses, he knows how to escape and get out. But I don’t feel like he’s got happy feet and he’s not nervous.
“He’s getting better every day, just keep going out there and getting comfortable and with that comfort comes confidence. And once he gets the confidence, I thought he would definitely take over the league.”
