Chicago Bears preseason takeaways: Caleb Williams flashes, a stacked secondary, and the legend of Tory Taylor

It's difficult to ascertain what's real and what's a mirage in the NFL preseason. The Detroit Lions infamously went 4-0 in preseason play in 2008, then proceeded to become the first team to go winless in a 16-game season. More than ever, NFL teams have held their starters out of the preseason in recent years, which only further clouds the data.

Chicago Bears fans have been wildly optimistic about the upcoming campaign, even long before the team completed a dominant undefeated preseason that saw them outscore their opponents 115-47. As since-released quarterback Austin Reed was heard saying on the most recent episode of Hard Knocks, "We talk about legendary teams ... we talk about the Patriots, we talk about the Legion of Boom, we talk about the '85 Bears. They're gonna talk about the 2024 preseason Bears for the rest of our lives! You feel me?"

Reed was obviously having fun, but he's not wrong that the Bears have been killing it on the field, and he's far from the only one in the organization that has exuded confidence in what this team is capable of. The '08 Lions serve as a cautionary tale about putting too much stock in the preseason, but there are several real reasons why the Bears are right to have their swagger back. Here are three of them.

Caleb Williams has the "it" factor

The amount of pressure that comes with being the top overall pick in the NFL Draft is something that few people will ever experience. Even fewer will thrive under those conditions, but there's reason to believe that Caleb Williams will be the exception.

For better and worse, Williams is a rookie, so while the entire city of Chicago has anointed him as the prince that was promised, there will undoubtedly be bumps in the road along the way. Williams and the Bears offense struggled at times against a hungry Bears defense in practice, and the numbers he put up (10/20 for 170 yards and no passing touchdowns) in the preseason don't scream "can't miss superstar." Look closer though, and Williams clearly has all the tools to live up to Bears fans' considerable expectations.

Williams has a huge arm, but he showed off his underappreciated athleticism in a wild play against the Bengals. Faced with a 3rd-and-goal from the 7-yard-line late in the second quarter, he stepped up and slid left away from backside pressure, then darted right to avoid two converging defenders. After leaving them in a heap, he spun and rolled back to the left while trying to point his receivers to open space. With everyone covered, he took off from the 15 and scored standing up for his first touchdown in a Bears uniform.

This play was remarkable in and of itself, but it was just one of three highlight plays that Williams made at the tail end of that drive alone. He got the Bears inside the 10 by spinning away from pressure and uncorking a 45-yard dart while rolling left to fellow rookie Rome Odunze. On the very next play he avoided a Bengals pass-rusher and threw a laser to the back corner of the end zone that should have been his first touchdown, except Odunze lost track of where he was and caught it out of bounds. Two plays after that, Caleb ran it in on his own.

After years of searching, it's clear that the Bears finally got their guy.

This secondary is absolutely loaded

The Bears offense received most of the coverage this offseason, which is understandable. Offense is just more fun, and in Caleb, Odunze and Keenan Allen, Ryan Poles has stacked up skill position talent in a marked departure from the typical blue-collar approach to past Bears teams.

Do not sleep on this defense, though, because Matt Eberflus has something special brewing on that side of the ball. Bears fans saw real results following the trade for Montez Sweat last year, and the Monsters of the Midway seem set to reclaim that title once and for all this year.

Jaylon Johnson continues to be underappreciated outside of Chicago, as evidenced by his being left off the NFL Top 100 list, but he's certainly valued by those that matter within the organization. Coming off a year in which he was arguably the best cornerback in football, Johnson was rewarded with a four-year, $76 million extension, locking him in as the unquestioned leader of what looks to be the best young secondary in football.

Johnson is joined in the defensive backfield by Kyler Gordon, the nickel corner that boasted the second-best passer rating allowed in the slot last year; Tyrique Stevenson, who is looking to build on a strong rookie season in which he picked off four passes and was named NFC Defensive Player of the Week after terrorizing the Falcons in Week 17; and Jaquan Brisker, the third-year safety that has over 100 tackles in each of his first two seasons.

Gordon deserves special mention for his preseason performance, because he was all over the field in the Bengals game in a way that few defensive backs not named Tyrann Mathieu have shown the capability of in recent years. Gordon batted down a pass. He was in on multiple tackles in the backfield. And he drilled Cincinnati quarterback Logan Woodside for a ferocious sack on a blitz.

Perhaps the best indication of how good this secondary can be is in the players that got cut. Reddy Steward and Adrian Colbert showed out in the preseason, but they couldn't make the final roster due to the presence of the aforementioned players and other reliable defenders such as Terell Smith, Jaylon Jones, and free agent signee Kevin Byard.

It is not going to be easy to pass on the Bears this year.

Tory Taylor is making punting cool

It feels strange to refer to a punter as a weapon, but Tory Taylor is no ordinary punter. The Australian former Iowa Hawkeye needs to be one of the best punters in the league to justify being drafted in the fourth round, but the early returns are looking extremely promising.

Taylor rewrote the collegiate punting record books in his four years in school, and through his own booming kicks and Iowa's frequently inept offense, was viewed unironically as the team's best player. Caleb Williams welcomed Taylor to the team on draft night with a text telling him, "You're not going to punt too much here," but as much as Bears fans have to love Caleb's confidence, the reality is that special teams play is critical in the NFL.

Taylor punted five times this preseason for an average of 49.2 yards, twice pinning the opponent inside the 20. He's so skilled that teammates were lining up to watch him at practice (as seen on Hard Knocks) to marvel at not only his power and hang time, but the technique and control he has over the ball.

We've already gone over why Bears fans should be excited about the offense and the defense. Cairo Santos has been a rock-steady presence since arriving in Chicago four years ago, and now with Taylor joining him, the special teams unit should be able to carry its own weight and then some.

NFL games are so often decided by a few yards here and a few yards there. The Bears went 2-6 in one-score games last year while sporting the worst net punting average in the league. Tory Taylor is going to make a big difference.