Should the Chicago Bears play Caleb Williams in HOF game? The answer is obvious

The Chicago Bears will kick off their 2024 preseason schedule on Thursday night in the Hall of Fame game against the Houston Texans. With all of the excitement surrounding the team and rookie quarterback Caleb Williams, the most pressing question facing head coach Matt Eberflus is whether he should send his prized first-round pick into the line of fire in Canton, Ohio.

The answer is easy and obvious: Yes.

There are a few reasons why it would be foolish not to play Williams against the Texans.

Bears won’t face Texans’ top defenders

What better way to have Caleb Williams get rid of his first-game jitters than against a Texans defense likely to play their second and third-stringers? Sure, it isn’t a real test for the former Heisman Trophy winner, but it is an NFL game — the first game since the Super Bowl — that will have a national audience and the hype and attention that comes with it.

Williams will be nervous. He’s human. All rookies are anxious for their first NFL action, even if it’s in the first week of August. The fact that the Bears play in the Hall of Fame game gives them a one-week head start to rid Williams of those nerves. Maybe that sounds silly, but it’s true. Time on task is critically important for first-year quarterbacks, and if the Chicago Bears can steal a few reps for Williams in the Hall of Fame game against a ragtag defense, it’d be foolish not to do it.

MORE: Key Takeaways from Day 8 of Bears training camp

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Get Caleb Williams reps!

Williams wants the reps. He said so from Halas Hall on Monday.

“I always think there’s more pros than cons in anything, especially for a young guy like myself,” Williams said. “The reps are always paramount for anybody like myself, a young rookie, a second-year guy, a third-year guy, it’s paramount. It’s really important and we’ll see about these preseason games coming, how they will play out.”

It doesn’t matter what walk of life you’re in. Everyone learns by doing. Sure, there’s value in watching and observing, too. But there’s no substitute for trial and error. The Bears should let Williams play a series (or two!) so he can make mistakes now, not in September. Misread coverages now, not in October. Learn the “why” and the “what” now, not when the games count.

Indeed, Williams will make mistakes throughout his entire rookie season. That’s expected. It doesn’t matter how talented he is. Remember: Peyton Manning tossed an NFL-record number of interceptions during his rookie year. No one would argue that those reps weren’t valuable, the more reps Williams can get, the better. That starts… now.

Don’t play scared

Football is a dangerous game. Injuries can happen at any time. Just ask the New York Jets, who lost Aaron Rodgers on the first series of last year’s season opener. It didn’t matter that Rodgers was protected during the preseason. If an injury is going to happen, it’s going to happen.

Of course, the risk of injury to Caleb Williams is eliminated if he doesn’t play. But the risk of injury at some point in 2024 will never go away. The goal should be his development, and the only way he’ll develop is by calling plays, dropping back, and firing passes. He can’t develop in bubble wrap.