Chicago Bears head coach Matt Eberflus has immediately installed Caleb Williams as the starting quarterback for the historic franchise heading into the 2024 NFL season.
On Friday, the Bears opened rookie minicamp following an exciting offseason that saw the front office bolster the offense via free agency, the draft, and trades. Chicago selected Williams with the first overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft before adding receiver Rome Odunze with the No. 9 selection.
Odunze joins an intriguing offense alongside Keenan Allen, DJ Moore, and running back D’Andre Swift. With many expecting Williams to pilot the offense, Eberflus wasted no time in ensuring the former USC quarterback was under no illusions about his role.
READ MORE: Malik Nabers forced to cancel $10,000 bet with Jayden Daniels after learning NFL's gambling rules
READ MORE: Michael Penix Jr. details private chat with Kirk Cousins before Falcons minicamp
“No conversation,” Eberflus declared. “He's the starter.”
Eberflus was unequivocal with his sentiment as excitement steadily builds regarding the Bears and their future with Williams at the helm. But he admitted the franchise - who have never boasted a 4,000-yard passing season from a starting quarterback in its over 100-year existence - have several milestones they expect their rookie starter to reach over the next few months before training camp begins in full.
“Full understanding of the concepts: run, pass, checks, and his fundamentals,” Eberflus said. “The fundamentals that we have in place for him, which, he's really good fundamentally, but we have some things we want him to work on and improve as well.”
Eberflus’ unsurprising expectations and declaration felt inevitable given the former Heisman Trophy winner was selected first overall. During the draft process, the Bears were the only NFL team Williams visited while the Chicago coaching staff spoke frequently with the quarterback about their offense even before commissioner Roger Goodell read his name from the card in Detroit last month.
Follow us on X for the best and latest in sports news
Eberflus has already spoken highly of the leadership qualities wielded by Williams, and he has demonstrated his prowess during his early time in the building. He took the initiative to work with private quarterback coach Will Hewlett on the fundamentals of the Bears offense before minicamp.
“You always want to get ahead if you can, and so with those things that they gave me, I would take it to my QB trainer and we would use the cadence,” Williams said. “We would use the drops, we would use all those things so that's not something that's on my mind throughout the process of when I actually got here.”
Eberflus revealed he gave Williams and Hewlett the basics of the offense, which included the verbiage, route tree, cadence, and how to operate in and out of the huddle. It has boosted the 22-year-old’s confidence, adding: “Right now I feel pretty good.
“Obviously we'll go out here today, and we're going to have a few mess-ups, probably, and things like that, working to do, eliminate those as fast as possible. But you need those things to grow and progress throughout the time and years and things like that. So excited, but I feel pretty good right now.”
Click here to follow the Mirror US on Google News to stay up to date with all the latest news, sport and entertainment stories
Most Popular
Comments / 0