Caleb Williams will dictate how far the Bears will go this season
In the latest Bears Wire feature, Caleb Williams is named the second most important Bear for this upcoming season. Here are Brendan Sugrue and Alyssa Barbieri's thoughts on this ranking:
"With a new scheme, a coach that has a history of getting the most out of the quarterback, and quality players at crucial positions, everything should be in place for Williams to take a leap in Year 2. It always comes down to the quarterback and whether or not he can be the transcendent signal caller that has eluded this franchise for years. While Williams has plenty to clean up going into this season, he set the bar higher than any other Bears rookie quarterback ever has. No quarterback in team history ever had a season with 3,500 passing yards, at least 20 touchdowns, and fewer than 10 interceptions before Williams. Add in that Johnson and his staff are working to break Williams of his bad habits and play within structure, and the stage is set for a leap forward in production. Just a few days into training camp, it's impossible to tell whether or not Williams will succeed. He has the tools and the resources to get there, though, and much of the Bears' success will hinge on his development."
Last season the media was saying Caleb Williams had the most to work with out of any rookie quarterback in NFL history. That did not turn out to be true. This season, with an even better supporting cast, the expectations are high for Caleb. Even in the toughest moments last season Caleb showed flashes of potential. This season the Bears will need a lot more than flashes to take back the NFC North.
The Bears can make all the additions they want, and they can hire the best coaching staff possible, but it will ultimately come down to Caleb Williams. Will he be exactly who we thought he was? With the talent Caleb Williams has, and the winning mindset he owns, we could see 2022 USC Trojan Caleb Williams. That would result in a very successful year for the Bears as they begin the Ben Johnson era.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
25 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Patriots to unveil Tom Brady statue this week. Here's what fans need to know
Seven-time Super Bowl Champion and three-time NFL MVP Tom Brady's playing days are finally behind him, but a statue will ensure the GOAT is always standing at Gillette Stadium. The statue will be unveiled before this Friday's preseason game against the Las Vegas Raiders in a 15 to 20-minute ceremony conducted by owner Robert Kraft. The 12-foot statue will stand in the Patriot Place Plaza next to the Patiots Hall of Fame. Parking lots will open at 3:00 p.m. and gates into Gillette Stadium will open at 5:00 p.m. Although fans with tickets are allowed to watch the ceremony in the plaza, the Patriots say fans seated inside the stadium will see a video component on the video boards. The ceremony will also be live-streamed on Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
Yahoo
25 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Shedeur Sanders explains why he doesn't want his father Deion to visit him at Browns camp
Deion Sanders is busy this time of year. He has a college football season to get ready for as Colorado's head coach. But just in case he wanted to find time to see his son Shedeur at Cleveland Browns camp, Shedeur Sanders would nix that idea. Talking to the media at Browns camp on Monday, Shedeur Sanders said he doesn't want his dad to come see him yet. He had a couple good reasons. First, Shedeur Sanders is still just a late-round rookie draft pick who is practically buried on the Browns depth chart early in camp. He's focused on working his way up the pecking order. Second, he knows what would happen if his celebrity father showed up at practice. Shedeur Sanders focused on moving up depth chart Shedeur Sanders explained that he'd rather work on moving up the depth chart before seeing Deion Sanders come watch him practice. Shedeur Sanders famously fell to the fifth round of the draft and he's still working with the backups even though Kenny Pickett has been out with a hamstring injury. Joe Flacco is the projected starter and fellow rookie quarterback Dillon Gabriel was drafted two rounds ahead of Sanders. Like any rookie who isn't high on the depth chart, practice reps aren't plentiful as the team gets ready for Week 1. "I don't want him coming to see me right now because I want to get to where I want to go, then for him to see me," Shedeur Sanders told reporters, via Mary Kay Cabot of "I don't want him to see me get a couple reps and he's cheering like a good dad like, nah, you can't be proud of me right now. I've got to get to where I'm going and I know it's a lot I've got to do to get there." He also wants to do that work without the circus that would come from Deion Sanders showing up to watch his son. 'A gift and a curse' Shedeur Sanders is unlike most rookies, and definitely unlike any other fifth-round rookie. Through the offseason Sanders has gotten more attention than practically any of the 143 players taken before him. That's unusual. Part of that is his draft fall, another part is how he has been a big name through his college career and a factor in that was that his father is one of the best known figures in sports. Deion Sanders was an all-time NFL great and his charisma and bravado has made him one of the most talked-about coaches in college football. Shedeur Sanders can't just blend in as a fifth-round rookie trying to move up the depth chart. Everything he does is dissected. It wouldn't get easier if Deion Sanders was watching practice from the sideline, and Shedeur Sanders is self-aware enough to know that. "I just want everything I'm doing to focus on this time and I don't want no distractions," Sanders said. "Because we know how the media, we know how everybody would take it and take away from the team, just from him being my dad showing up. "It's a gift and a curse at the same time."
Yahoo
25 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Jerry Jones doesn't seem too worried about getting Micah Parsons' deal done right away
Emmitt Smith's contract holdout was more than three decades ago, but it's still memorable. Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones hasn't forgotten about it. In 1993 Smith was coming off his second straight rushing title and held out, wanting a new contract. The holdout lasted two games into the regular season, and the Cowboys started 0-2. The two sides then came to an agreement on a deal that made Smith the highest paid running back in NFL history (four years and $13.6 million ... contracts have gone up a bit). Smith ended up winning NFL MVP and the Cowboys won a Super Bowl. Jones remembers that holdout and others in which the Cowboys waited it out, which indicates he isn't going to panic about the Micah Parsons situation. 'It took a long time with Emmitt Smith,' Jones told Jarrett Bell of USA Today. 'Same thing with (Zack) Martin two years ago. (CeeDee) Lamb last year." It's a theme for the Cowboys. Parsons requested a trade, but Jones probably isn't going to speed up negotiations that much. Jerry Jones explains Micah Parsons situation The tone of the pace of negotiations was summed up by a Jones quote over the weekend, after the trade request, in which he advised Cowboys fans: "Don't lose any sleep over it." Jones is a shrewd businessman and it seems that while the rest of the NFL world and especially Dallas is worried about what happens next with Parsons, the Cowboys owner seems like he's actually enjoying the standoff. "This is a negotiation," Jones said, via the team's site. "Does it blow me up? Somebody to say, 'Look, trade me.' That's just not a flare sign for me at all in any way." Jones has reasons to not worry too much. Parsons can request a trade all he wants but that doesn't force the Cowboys into dealing him. Parsons has a year left on his rookie deal and Jones referenced in his interview with USA Today the two franchise tags the team used on DeMarcus Lawrence and Dak Prescott before signing them to long-term deals. Theoretically, if the Cowboys wanted to dig in, they could use back-to-back franchise tags on Parsons too and drag it out until after the 2027 season. Parsons' leverage is that the Cowboys would be at a significant competitive disadvantage if he sat out games during his holdout. Jones doesn't seem too worried though. Jones preaches patience again Generally, the Cowboys have gotten deals done. They did with Smith, they got a long-term deal with Dez Bryant done right at the deadline for extending franchise-tagged players, Prescott and Lawrence got long-term deals after franchise tags, Martin and Lamb got their contracts too after some August drama. People can criticize Jones for waiting, and often paying more, but it's not changing. Jones has argued that doing a deal early has its drawbacks too, and he keeps doubling down on that approach. 'Let me say this just right,' Jones told USA Today. "I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't do it that way. I should be trying to get the most value for the Cowboys. I've seen players I wish we had renegotiated their contracts earlier and I've had several that I was sorry I renegotiated their contract earlier. The idea that if you wait there's more money (spent) forgets that in between that wait, you get to evaluate and you frankly get to see if you're dealing with the same physical elements of it.' So everyone is in a holding pattern. There's more than a month before the Cowboys' first game. The Cowboys don't seem inclined to entertain trade calls for Parsons. Parsons will continue to hold out as he looks for a deal that will likely make him the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history. And Jones will keep waiting. He has made that clear.
