Caleb Williams is already well into his second season in the NFL, and he continues to be middling. And for Nick Wright, that is not a good sign.
On Tuesday, two days after the Chicago Bears lost 30-16 at the Baltimore Ravens, the veteran sportscaster was asked about the quarterback’s progress on Colin Cowherd’s FS1 show “The Herd”. He said:
“Caleb Williams being ‘just fine’ is a disaster. …He is a year and a half in, still shaky at what should be the easiest stuff, and that is concerning. Do I still think long-term it’s going to work? Yeah, I think it, but I am not dead set certain the way I once was.”
He continued by making analogies to another former no. 1 overall pick – the Jacksonville Jaguars’ Trevor Lawrence:
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“I might get out of the college quarterback handicapping business. Because I have never seen two guys the moment they first played college football that I was more certain, ‘That guy is going to be a superstar!’ than those two.”Another person who thinks Williams is not “fine” is John Middlekauff. The former Philadelphia Eagles scout called him “not a good player” and the sole bad thing about the Bears on Colin Cowherd’s eponymous podcast last Sunday:
“The running back has played well, and the defense has played well, the quarterback has not. How many times today with Caleb [were there] guys in the flat, even on completions, they have to stop and catch the ball. There’s no rhythm to his game. …That’s a problem.”
Jeff Saturday believes Caleb Williams can still flourish under Ben Johnson
Meanwhile, former Indianapolis Colts center Jeff Saturday still has patience for Caleb Williams, but it will require one thing: exponential development under Ben Johnson, just as fellow 2024 alums Jayden Daniels and Drake Maye have experienced under Kliff Kingsbury and Josh McDaniels respectively. He said yesterday on ESPN’s First Take:
“Caleb Williams just needs time under a coordinator like Ben Johnson. Allowing guys to play within the system is what Ben Johnson is trying to create. The problem is: Caleb Williams hasn’t had a ton of coaching like that yet.”
After seven games, Williams has 138 completions for 1,636 yards and nine touchdowns against four interceptions. He has also rushed 35 times for 130 yards and two scores.