LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- Caleb Williams is well aware that the city of Chicago has been waiting for a franchise quarterback to lead the Bears to the promised land for generations. He knows that plenty of guys– from Justin Fields to Jay Cutler, Rex Grossman and Mitchell Trubisky, and many, many more– have been brought in to finally jump start an eternally anemic offense, and all have ultimately failed.
The history of the Bears and their quarterbacks is so bleak, that Williams actually overstated the struggles.
“Yeah, you obviously look into it to be the only team without a 3,000-yard passer, I believe,” Williams said moments after he officially became the next Bears quarterback.
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Not that bad, Williams, but still pretty bad. The Bears are the only team across the entire NFL to never enjoy a 4,000-yard passer. Erik Kramer’s 3,838-yard campaign in 1995 remains the top mark in franchise history. In today’s NFL, with 17-game seasons and plenty of protections for explosive passing games, that’s pretty remarkable.
Williams is expected to be the man to change all of that. He has the skillset, moxie and complement of playmakers to make it all happen. If Williams does reach his full potential, if he shatters Bears records, and if he most importantly helps the team win a Super Bowl, he won’t just have a statue erected in his honor, he’ll be deified.
But if he struggles, an extremely vocal fanbase will let him know. Bears fans are starved for a winner. Most have never seen consistently good quarterback play in their lifetimes, and got attached to the exciting playmaking ability of Fields. Spend any time on social media over the last few months and you’d know how split the fanbase was when the team decided to part ways with Fields.
The ingredients are there for a major pressure cooker for a rookie QB, but Williams doesn’t seem like the sort to break a sweat. It seems like he’s relishing the challenge and said he doesn't view the opportunity in front of him as a high-pressure situation at all.
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“That may be the narrative,” Williams said. “For me, I handle my job. I’ll be a great teammate first and foremost. I handle business on and off the field and then I go to work.
“I enjoy what I do. I love what I do. I’m in there with my guys and my guys are seeing me, they see how hard I work, their guy, their QB, and we go get it. We go win games together.”
The “together” aspect is part of the reason Williams doesn’t feel the pressure is all on his shoulders.
“I can’t win a game by myself. Keenan Allen can’t win a game by himself. And so making sure that we’re all together, offense, defense, special teams, and we go get it.”
Everything is in place for Williams to succeed: three great wide receivers in DJ Moore, Keenan Allen and Rome Odunze, an experienced playcaller in Shane Waldron, and an ascending defense that can create takeaways to both keep points off the board and give the offense a short field. He knows the Bears are better than most teams a No. 1 overall pick joins, and he appreciates the plan the Bears have to win.
Williams also asked the Bears why things haven’t worked out with previous QBs, and said he was satisfied with the answers he heard.
So he’ll put his head down, get to work and trust his preparation.