Bill Belichick punches Bears fans in the gut assessing Caleb Williams' preseason

The Chicago Bears haven’t known a franchise quarterback since Sid Luckman helped George Halas revolutionize the forward pass in the 1940s.

In the past two decades, the Bears have been led by quarterbacks Kyle Orton, Rex Grossman, Jay Cutler, Mitchell Trubisky and Justin Fields. The long history of middling quarterbacks has made it difficult to keep faith, but Chicago is hoping their fortunes have finally changed. 

Chicago selected USC quarterback Caleb Williams with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.

When the Bears drafted Williams, they knew they were getting a quarterback who enjoys painting outside the lines. At USC, Williams made his living from broken plays and off-platform throws. During the preseason, he showcased that his style of backyard football can translate to the professional level.

The rookie dazzled fans with highlight-reel plays in his two preseason games, but he was far from perfect.

Bill Belichick hasn’t been impressed by Caleb Williams so far

On the season premiere of NFL Network’s “Inside the NFL,” all-time great head coach Bill Belichick made it clear he wasn’t particularly impressed by Williams’ preseason. 

“Well, [Williams] wasn’t accurate, he was 10-for-20,” Belichick said. “There were a couple of highlight plays, but they weren’t that good.”

In two preseason games, Williams completed 10 of 20 pass attempts for 170 passing yards, no touchdowns, no interceptions and a passer rating of 79.2. He added two carries for 20 rushing yards and a touchdown.

Williams thrived outside the structure of the play design. His vision and ability to throw on the run helped generate some spectacular plays, highlighted by a 45-yard throw to rookie wide receiver Rome Odunze against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Despite the exciting plays, Williams has plenty of flaws to work on. He completed just one of five pass attempts while under pressure. The 22-year-old quarterback tends to drop his eyes down to the pass rush when he’s pressured, and his attempts to make highlight plays get him into trouble far too frequently.   

While broken plays are great for highlights, they are chaotic and inconsistent. For reliable and consistent success, quarterbacks have to learn how to operate within the structure of the play design. The greatest quarterbacks thrived by understanding the weak points of their protection scheme, identifying the coverage and checking the ball down to beat a blitz. 

Belichick has cautioned fans to temper expectations for rookie quarterbacks this season. Optimism is typically high at this stage of the offseason, but the harsh reality is that most quarterbacks don’t pan out the way teams hope. 

The Bears are no strangers to that reality — their last two first-round quarterbacks both failed to earn a second contract in Chicago. At times, the team’s quarterback maladies have seemed incurable. 

No Bears quarterback has passed for 4,000 yards in a single season. Erik Kramer set the franchise record with 3,838 yards during the 1995 season, and only Jay Cutler has come close to surpassing it. 

Williams will hope to erase that unsavory statistic from the storied franchise’s history.