Chicago Bears make a firm statement on Caleb Williams’ role as rookie minicamp begins.
The Chicago Bears have ushered in an exciting new era ahead of the 2024 season, selecting Caleb Williams with the first overall pick in the NFL Draft—and the QB is anticipated to hit the ground running.
Matt Eberflus, the head coach of the Chicago Bears, has stated that Caleb Williams will open the 2024 NFL season as quarterback.
The Bears began their rookie minicamp on Friday, following a busy offseason in which they improved their offense through free agency, drafts, and trades. The franchise selected Williams first overall in the 2024 NFL Draft, followed by receiver Rome Odunze at No. 9.
Odunze will join a talented offense that includes Keenan Allen, DJ Moore, and running back D’Andre Swift. With many expected Williams to lead the offense, Eberflus made it obvious to the former USC quarterback of his responsibilities.
“No conversation,” Eberflus said. “He’s the starter.”
Eberflus was solid in his position as excitement develops around the Bears and their future under Williams’ leadership. However, he acknowledged that the franchise, which has never had a starting quarterback pass for 4,000 yards in its more than 100-year history, has many goals they expect their rookie starter to reach before full training camp begins.
“Full understanding of the concepts: run, pass, checks, and his fundamentals,” remarked Eberflus. “The fundamentals that we have in place for him, which, he’s really good fundamentally, but we have some things we want him to work on and improve as well.”
Eberflus’ expectations were not surprising given that Williams is a former Heisman Trophy winner who was chosen first overall. The Bears were the only NFL team Williams visited throughout the draft process, and the Chicago coaching staff had several meetings with him about their offense before commissioner Roger Goodell announced his selection at the Detroit draft last month.
Eberflus has previously lauded Williams for his leadership abilities, which he demonstrated during his early days with the squad. He took the effort to work with private quarterback coach Will Hewlett on the principles of the Bears offense prior to minicamp.
“You always want to get ahead if you can, and so with those things that they gave me, I would take it to my QB trainer and we would use the cadence,” Williams explained. “We would use the drops, we would use all those things so that’s not something that’s on my mind throughout the process of when I actually got here.”
Eberflus stated that he gave Williams and Hewlett a basic understanding of the offense, including important vocabulary, play structure, starting signals, and huddle management tactics. He believes this has been beneficial to their advancement, as the 22-year-old confidently declared: “Right now I feel pretty good.”
“Obviously, we’ll walk out here today, and we’re going to have a couple mistakes and stuff like that, which we’re aiming to minimize as soon as possible. But you need those things to grow and progress over time, years, and so on. So excited, but I’m feeling quite well right now.”
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