Caleb Williams’ progress is Priority 1 for the Chicago Bears, and their moves this offseason underscore just how invested in his success they are. To that end, Williams’ inauspicious start to training camp has given way to something else.
Clocker Sports has already noted that Williams’ progress is difficult to judge from the outside, particularly in highly curated practice sessions.
Team drills, in particular, highlight the QB’s experience so far.
Caleb Williams Gets Honest Evaluation From Bears OC in Training Camp
Bears QB Caleb Williams Gets Telling Review From OC Declan Doyle
During the Bears’ second 11-on-11 session (the first was a walkthrough), Williams found rookie tight end Colston Loveland for a touchdown after finding veteran TE Cole Kmet and wide receiver Rome Odunze on the “drive.”
In the third 11-on-11, which focused on the red zone, Williams found Odunze in the end zone, through traffic, with a laser on a sequence that saw him miss his draft classmate twice and recover a fumbled snap.
Later, in an 11-on-11 that focused on hurry-up situations, Williams overcame more missed connections to Odunze and DJ Moore to find the former before hitting Kmet for a score.
Williams’ day ended on a miss to Moore that training camp standout Nahshon Wright intercepted, but the QB’s performance pleased his offensive coordinator, Declan Doyle.
“His process gets better every day. It’s really one day to the next, he’s putting in the work. He’s doing a good job. We’ve seen very positive results in the pre-snap stuff. He’s continuing to progress post-snap, and I think he had a pretty good day today,” Doyle told Clocker Sports after Saturday’s practice.
“I’m really excited about where he’s going. It’s still a journey. It’s going to be. Every single day is really important for him, but he’s heading in the right direction.”
Teammates Case Keenum and Tyson Bagent both praised Williams’ progress, too.
Williams’ first big test will come on August 8. That is when the Bears will hold a joint practice with the Miami Dolphins ahead of their preseason opener (August 10). The two teams will still work situationally. However, there should also be far less scripting of what Williams does and, certainly, what he sees from the defense.
Doyle said the Bears are through nine of their 12 installation days. Moreover, he does not believe they have “scratched the surface” of head coach Ben Johnson’s playbook. If that does not explain some of the defense’s advantage early on, it offers encouragement for the coming days.
Bears’ ‘Dawg’ is Loose
The Bears got rookie second-round pick Luther Burden III back into the full swing of things this week. He has shown why there was surprise he slipped out of the first round. Burden is showing to be a smooth route runner and explosive playmaker.
Johnson lauded his ability to play fast so quickly after a long injury-related layoff earlier this week.
On Saturday, Bagent offered strong thoughts on his young teammate.
“I’ve seen that he’s got a dawg mindset,” Bagent told Clocker Sports after practice on Saturday. “He’s got a dawg mentality. He wants to rock, he wants to make big plays. And I think that he’s kind of – he did that a little bit at the end of last week and a little bit today, I thought.”
Burden has been targeted by all three quarterbacks when he has taken the field in team drills. It is easy to envision him quickly making up ground on another camp darling, Olamide Zaccheaus, and securing the No. 3 WR role behind Moore and Odunze in short order.
LT Battle Sees Potentially Significant Shakeup
Saturday saw, perhaps, the biggest delineation between the three players vying for the Bears’ starting left tackle job: incumbent Braxton Jones, 2024 third-round pick Kiran Amegadjie, and 2025 second-rounder Ozzy Trapilo.
Trapilo got all of the first-team reps. The volume is more noteworthy than who he played with. The Bears have rotated their tackles all training camp.
Amegadjie was absent due to a leg injury.
Even still, Jones was largely relegated to third-team duties. Second-year player Theo Benedet took reps at LT and right guard in place of Jonah Jackson. Jackson returned from a multi-session absence and left Saturday’s practice early.
Doyle said they will continue to rotate the three players. Still, the setup in this session seemed to speak volumes as they get closer to needing to have the situation settled.