Given the makeup of the Bears’ quarterback depth chart, Caleb Williams beginning his career on the sideline never appeared a realistic possibility. Matt Eberflus dispensed with any mystery on this front Friday.
Eberflus confirmed the No. 1 overall pick is the Bears’ starting quarterback. Seeing as the Bears traded three-year starter Justin Fields for an underwhelming return and have not added a veteran who would make sense as even a short bridge to Williams, this was the widely expected plan in Chicago.
Entering mid-May, Chicago’s QB room consists of Williams, 2023 UDFA Tyson Bagent, Brett Rypien and 2024 UDFA Austin Reed. Bailey Zappe‘s successor at Western Kentucky, Reed adds to the non-Power 5 theme behind Williams. Bagent hails from Division II Shepherd, Rypien from Boise State.
Rypien carries by far the most experience in this group, having come into the league in 2019. But he spent time with three teams (the Rams, Seahawks and Jets) last season. Rypien’s start in place of Matthew Stafford against the Packers went poorly enough the Rams cut him soon after and reached an agreement to end Carson Wentz‘s lengthy free agency stay. Rypien, 27, is tied to a one-year, $1.13MM deal with no guarantees. Bagent did go 2-2 as a starter in place of Fields last season but finished his midseason run with three touchdown passes, six interceptions and a 6.0 yards-per-attempt number.
The other five teams to draft first-round QBs have potential starters via veteran pieces added this offseason. Marcus Mariota looms as Commanders insurance against Jayden Daniels needing a bit of time to develop, while Jacoby Brissett looks to have a better chance to be the Patriots’ bridge to Drake Maye. Kirk Cousins will, barring a snag in his rehab from Achilles surgery, be the Falcons’ starter over Michael Penix Jr. this season. Sam Darnold should have a good shot to hold off J.J. McCarthy to open the season. Bo Nix making a Division I-FBS QB-record 61 starts and being 24 points to the No. 12 overall pick being an early-season starter in Denver, but the Broncos have both Jarrett Stidham and Zach Wilson as possible placeholders.
Williams started each of his three college seasons, unseating Spencer Rattler at Oklahoma in 2021 and following Lincoln Riley to USC. Williams’ 2022 Heisman season placed him atop this year’s prospect lists — to the point the pre-draft rumors centered around the action that would take place after the Bears chose the Trojans standout. Although the Bears used first-round picks on QBs three times this century (Rex Grossman, Mitchell Trubisky, Fields) and traded two first-rounders (and more) for Jay Cutler, Williams’ debut will be easily the most anticipated start by a Bears passer in decades (if not ever).
Wow, must have been a real shock for Tyson Bagent.
Shocker
I like the Bears and hope this kid pans out. If he does, that’s an explosive offense. But jeez, if he doesn’t….
They will be cutting Bagent soon to avoid any qb controversy
At the end of the day, does it really matter? There is a reason the bears have been an embarrassment to the NFL for the last 40 years.
Williams is not going to be a top NFL QB, and every year we get a can’t miss number 1 overall QB prospect who ends up being mediocre at best. Williams is not going to save the Bears.
I feel bad for Chicago fans who keep falling for it.
Can’t fault the organization for trying. I’m not sure what you mean by falling for it. What are the fans falling for specifically? If you don’t share any optimism being a fan than why be one?
And your reasoning of Williams being a failure is??? Maybe your name menace fits you well.
Guy just doesn’t know ball. Not even a lick.
I’ll take the kind of mediocre you ascribe to Murray, Burrrow, or Lawrence just fine, thank you.
Not sure how the Bears have been an “embarrassment” for the last 40 years lol but whatever
Bears at least figured out you need to give your rookie qb help.
Dj Moore Keenan Allen Rome Odunze Cole Kmet is probably the best receiving room the bears have had in their entire franchise history.
My concern is the oline but given the investments the bears have made on offense around Williams I think he will be better than people think he will be.
We will see how play calling is but Williams is starting at a significantly better start than the bears gave Fields or Trubinsky.
Great weapons, but rookie QBs (on good teams) need a good run game and defense, no?
Haters gotta hate.
1.Williams has the best supporting cast I’ve seen a #1 overall pick have in my memory.
2. Bears OL is vastly under appreciated. If Fields would have spent more time behind it than running around it he might have found that out.
3. They can make Williams life a lot easier if they used their remaining Cap money and Signed the C from the Dolphins who’s a FA. Yeah I know he’s rehabbing a torn ACL but he should be back by November and then you add an All Pro C to a pretty deep group. Shelton is a decent B/U and Bates is a break glass in case of emergency C IMO. Bates is great cover in case Jenkins goes down again.
4. Next year with a 1st, 2 2nds and a 3rd they can weaponize the OL. and maybe replace Allen if he walks.
5. There really isn’t a weak position group on this team so if they start slow it’s all gonna hang around Eberflus neck. And it’s fairly deep. Poles and Cunningham have done a nice job.
6. So people can say what they want, But let’s play the games and find out huh?
I agree with most except #2, that OL has a LOT to prove before I anoint them anything. Really they ‘improved’ over ’22, and that is not saying much if anything. Many times I watched games only to see Fields getting hit almost immediately after he dropped back, due to the OL missing assignments or the turnstile they have at RG now in Davis (and yes some of that was on Fields as well). What I would like to see is Davis riding the pine, or gone. I would like to see him stay with the Bears and be better, but I have my doubts after last season given his lack of performance with his lack of being on the field.
But you are right, lets see what happens before calling this guy a bust before he throws one football in the league.
Trubisky and Fields weren’t nearly the prospect Williams is.
Trubisky was very raw with only a handful of college starts. But he and Fields could never learn to process an NFL passing play beyond looking at WR1. Both never developed any accuracy either. These are intangibles that can’t be measured at the combine. Stroud is a good example of a rookie QB that could process a play quickly.
I think what is telling was Moore quoted as saying with Williams the ‘anticipation’ is there, that is: throwing the ball and expecting his receiver to be there to get it. That was one of the knocks on Fields (which I think could be fixed but maybe not) was having the faith in his arm to get it there, and the faith in his receiver to be there to get it. A lot of Fields completions were with guys waiting, and only toward the later part of last season did it seem he was hitting some guys on the run. But with Williams it sounds more like he has the faith to get the ball there and his receiver being there to get it from the get go. I get that everyone is going to speak highly of this kid, but for Moore to come out and specifically say that is telling (and in a good way).
Here’s a great example:
link to youtu.be
All Fields did was throw the ball to the back corner of the end zone. WR caught it. It was a designed to have a low INT %. Nothing special about this play, any NFL QB could’ve done it. But watching fanboys gush over it like it was something special is funny.
It’s always baffling to me when people think the past performance associated with a franchise means they’ll somehow never be good again. How many times do you need to see that narrative shattered before you realize how utterly absurd it is? And the bears went to the Super Bowl in 2007 so idk where you came up with “40 years.” Rex Grossman has the same amount of NFC Championships as Aaron Rodgers.
Well, that was quick. No “earn the job” speeches, no for camera practice competitions, no splitting first team reps. Let’s see what happens, Chicago.
I really miss those head coaches who could entertain fans with a good speech.
link to youtube.com
That was a 99-1 chance barring injury !
:))))
In other news, water is wet.
According to Trump, it certainly is.
Little hands, falls asleep, farts and is freezing in court. And his followers say big men wear diapers
Buccoprojectory certainly knows about adult diapers
Let the train wreck commence!!!!
And if he does well, we won’t see you on any of these boards.
Stabby roots for a team that’s never won a super bowl, blew its top five QB’s rookie contract window, had to part ways with half their veterans, and has a coach who gives 9/11 hijacker pep talks. So he gets really itchy to sling mud elsewhere.
The best thing about Stabby is that he lives in Oooof’s head….keep thinking about me, big guy
lol ok. If one comment about you means you live rent free in my head then the Patriots must own you outright.
Look at how fast you responded… lol. I just put more water in your dish in the back yard.
For someone who does nothing but talk trash, you sure aren’t very good at it.
What did that take, 1 practice n U R the starting QB. Think he’ll do better than kid in Carolinas did last yr.
Man I really thought Bagent had a chance!!!!
If the Bears line performs poorly he will have a chance.
Ooooooooo
I wasn’t ready for all these plot twists. Please allow me to catch my breath before announcing any more ground shattering news, Chicago.
He’ll bust. They’ll be looking for a new QB 1 in 2-3 years.
Akili Smith 2.0 ? If the team won’t play for you you’re gonna fail. Attitude without accomplishments means you’re a self centered ass.
Keenan Allen even went to his pro day. I think he’ll be fine. And he was a vastly better and more experienced college player than Akili Smith.
I hope he works out for them. There are no excuses now. Unproven but supposedly superstar QB, and one of the best wide receivers corps in the NFL, if something doesn’t change it’s obviously the coach or coaches. I also look back at the greatest QB draft of the millennium (according to Mel Kiper) and see only Trevor Lawrence still standing. It’s all a crap shoot, you just bet the house on a guy and hope for the best.
They’ve played the situation well. He’s a better prospect than Young was last year. It won’t take a ton for him to be better than Fields. They have Williams, Moore, Odunze, and an extra second next year from how they handled the situation. Nothing is guaranteed, but they’ve navigated their situation very well. And Williams is certainly less of a wildcard than Akili Smith.
Take nothing for granted. Injuries happen. If the Bears finish the season with all three of these receivers on the field it will be a bit of a miracle. Teams target Moore and try to knock him out, and Allen is a vet whose body cannot take the punishment it used to. Kmet is another guy targeted by D’s a lot. Odunze, well I hope his Hamstring issue during minicamp is not a harbinger of things to come (knowing the org).
Im hoping Williams can make it easier on his receivers and not put them in those positions to get creamed on a catch being made.
Gotta love guys who argue for the sake of arguing. Fields will turn out to be a good QB for someone, just not the Bears. Williams is an unknown. At least we knew what Fields could do, and what he couldn’t. My opinion is AS 2.0, yours isn’t. Plain enough?
Fields only has one cheap year left and he’s never been consistently good in three years. And Akili Smith had fewer than half as many college passing attempts as Williams in college. He was much less experienced, less accurate, and more turnover prone entering the league. He was more of a wildcard than Williams. You’re welcome to cling to your opinion, but an awful lot of people seem to have the knee jerk opinion of trashing Williams because he rubs them the wrong way, not because of anything having to do with his actual skills and performance.
Should have seen Tim Tebow quarterback the Gators, it was a thing of beauty. Not so much in the pros. College is a completely different animal all together I personally don’t have a great opinion of Williams. Remember , it’s MY opinion.I think he’s going to be a bust. Fields deserved better. He’s going to go somewhere and become a good QB and the Bears will regret dumping him. Steelers have Wilson, but is he still any good? Fields would be a great QB in the Steelers system if he ever gets the chance.
The degree to which people on here are dying to take Caleb Williams down a peg is pathological. He’s an outstanding prospect and an exciting talent. He’ll be fun to watch play. Something seriously off about the way people are thirsty for him to fail.
Packers, Lions, Vikings fans have to hate anything Bears. They’re so afraid he’s actually gonna work out.
It’s more than that, though. Whether it’s the hype or him daring to have any individual personality or ego, people on here are so itchy to hate him. It’s ugly.
Im wary of any player who is braggadocios. There is a fine line between confidence and having a bloated ego and rankle people around you (ask players at the time about Cade McNown).
That said, nothing but positive news has come from all of their meetings with the kid before the draft, when they did not have to take him, so lying was not necessary. Now, the receivers and the team seems to be taking to him.
Likely anything else in life, nothing is guaranteed, but if he works out, the division should be concerned.
Learn from the Packers how they create great QBs.
There was really no other choice, as Bagent would not have provided much of an opportunity for Williams to grow on the bench unless they wanted to throw the season away. Williams has been surrounded with good supporting talent thus he will likely do an adequate job.