Prince of the preseason: Breaking down Caleb Williams’ dazzling display

National Football League

Published Aug. 22, 2024 2:39 p.m. ET

In a draft where six quarterbacks were taken in the top 12 selections, preseason still meant the most for the quarterback taken first among them: Caleb Williams.

Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles had spent two-and-a-half offseasons curating a perfect landing spot for a young quarterback. With the help of the Carolina Panthers and their abysmal 2023 record, Poles ended up with the pick of the litter after having secured Carolina’s selection in a trade earlier that same year.

He couldn’t mess this up.

Williams is the most highly touted prospect to come out of college in years. The Heisman winner’s freakish athleticism and pedigree have prepared him for this moment. This is a player who said when he was a grade-schooler that he wanted to go first overall in the NFL Draft. Everything he’s done since then has been to get to that goal. He’s achieved it and now the weight of the Windy City hangs on his broad shoulders.

Armed with the most complete team the Bears will field perhaps ever, Williams cannot fail.

The good news is, after two preseason games, it doesn’t look like he will.

It’s a small sample size, and it isn’t anywhere near the speed and pressure of what the regular season will bring, but Williams played a total of 43 snaps and has shown glimpses of the quarterback he can become.

There were so many encouraging things within his preseason performance. By no means was everything perfect. The rookie will undoubtedly take his lumps, especially with the way he likes to improvise in the backfield. But in just a couple short months, you can see him grasping offensive coordinator Shane Waldron’s scheme in real-time. You can also see, in turn, how the scheme has taken into account Williams’ skill set. It’s not a finished product, but fans can see the vision pretty easily.

Take for instance Williams’ first NFL completion. It was a 12-yard dart to wide receiver D.J. Moore, the team’s newly re-signed WR1. Watch as you can see Williams going through his progressions as his helmet moves from one player to the next before he settles on Moore. Is it a little slow? Yes. But Williams readjusts and sets himself before firing. He’s also not afraid to throw it into a tight window. In fact, he seems pretty much fearless.

These are the kinds of plays that never made it into his college highlight reels because of the crazy plays out of structure that he can make. I’ve said it before, I love the way Williams scrambles. He isn’t just looking to salvage the play with his legs. He keeps his eyes up looking for additional throwing lanes to make a play with his arm.

That results in things like this:

That’s just a silly, silly play. The way that Williams is able to get torque on the ball without having his feet set, or even on the ground, and be accurate on the move is truly incredible. Watch how Williams squares his shoulders to his target too as he throws. Dare I say, it’s almost Patrick Mahomes-esque. There’s not much a defense can do that far after the ball is snapped — it’s just not possible to cover your man for that long as a defender. If Williams can keep that aspect of his game intact against real competition, NFL defenses are going to have a problem on their hands.

While I commend not tucking and running while scrambling, sometimes you just have to do it yourself and Williams proved he could do that, too. It actually came on his first touchdown in a Bears uniform against Cincinnati in Week 2 of the preseason. Williams was flushed out of the pocket by pressure, he tries to get his head around and eyes downfield as soon as possible as he spins away but realizes he’s completely surrounded, so instead he just pulls a rabbit out of a hat and runs it in himself for the score. The sheer variety of his skillset should make Chicago fans excited. It should do a lot for Waldron, too, who will have the freedom to get creative, especially once his scheme takes hold.

Shoutout to the big fella Teven Jenkins on the lead block for Williams, too.

Waldron’s scheme, even from what we’ve seen in the preseason, is drastically different than anything the Bears have done the last few years. That should also be a good sign. There were multiple plays out of two tight-end sets, with tight ends flanking either side of the offensive line. What’s key about that 12 personnel set is that those tight ends can do anything. They can stay in to help block or they can chip or they can release directly into a route. It creates a lot of question marks for the defense and is also a way to exploit matchups if you see say a linebacker on a guy like Cole Kmet. Kmet specifically has come a long way since his blocking tight end days at Notre Dame. He’s fast on his release and has gotten more precise on his routes. He clearly already has chemistry with Williams, too, judging from that play above.

There have also been multiple plays with two running backs on the field, too. Specifically, we’ve seen some pro sets out of Waldron, with backs on either side of Williams in the backfield. There’s even been some fullback action so far.

If this is what we’ve seen in preseason, it makes me hopeful for how much fun this Bears offense can be in the regular season after they have fully grasped Waldron’s system and he feels comfortable opening it up a bit more.

For now, though, there should be more of this kind of stuff immediately.

Carmen Vitali is an NFL Reporter for FOX Sports. Carmen had previous stops with The Draft Network and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. She spent six seasons with the Bucs, including 2020, which added the title of Super Bowl Champion (and boat-parade participant) to her résumé. You can follow Carmen on Twitter at @CarmieV.