Bears QB Caleb Williams ‘light years ahead’ during team’s minicamp practices

Owning the first overall pick in the NFL Draft certainly has its benefits. In the case of the Chicago Bears in 2024, they got a head start assimilating Caleb Williams into their offense.

“Coming into this minicamp, he was light years ahead of the information that he already had,” Bears QB Coach Kerry Joseph said this week after the team’s rookie minicamp.

Williams, whom coach Matt Eberflus named the team’s starting quarterback before the first practice, will have a very different experience than Justin Fields, the team’s first-round pick in 2021, who was forced to sit behind Andy Dalton for the first half of his rookie season for reasons that Matt Nagy is still trying to explain.

There was little doubt that the Chicago Bears would name Williams the starting quarterback at some point during training camp, but there was some surprise that they did it so soon. So far, it’s paying off.

Caleb Williams throwing the football in a Bears uniform. Rookie minicamp began Friday. pic.twitter.com/2gBgW8Fq4D

— Sean Hammond (@sean_hammond) May 10, 2024

Caleb Williams’ next step is the Bears’ OTA sessions, at which he’ll begin connecting with veteran receivers DJ Moore, Keenan Allen, and tight end Cole Kmet.

“To be a great leader, you have to learn how to follow first,” Williams said last week. “So right now, I’m following all the vets, I’m following all the coaches. I’m listening, having both ears open and my mouth shut. I’m just kind of sitting back listening, and when I get to the point of when I learn everything when I learn the ways of how we do it with the culture, the playbook, and what the offensive line, the receivers, running backs and tight ends are all doing, then you can start taking the lead.”