Everybody knew Caleb Williams had a good arm. That wasn’t any sort of secret coming out of USC. The quarterback had a rocket launcher attached to his right shoulder. It allowed him to throw the ball with velocity from any arm angle, often with great accuracy. Still, there is a divide between great throws and absurd ones. Williams jumped into the latter category on Sunday against the Cleveland Browns. Leading 14-3 in the 3rd quarter, Williams ran an RPO on 1st down before rolling to his right.
For a moment, it looked like he might have to throw the ball away. Then he appeared to commit a cardinal sin, throwing across his body back over the middle of the field. That is a surefire way to get intercepted. However, the missile Williams threw somehow bypassed every Browns defender in the end zone to find D.J. Moore for the touchdown.
Initially, people thought Williams just got lucky. The ball went through a defender’s hands. It should’ve been intercepted. A reverse angle replay instead showed Williams had Moore the whole way. The ball was perfect.
Many people were still unhappy with the throw. They called it reckless and ill-advised. Smart quarterbacks don’t do things like that. Bears media members asked Williams about it after the game. His answer was blunt and just a wee bit arrogant.
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Caleb Williams has found his swagger.
Some people think it’s a bad thing when a player’s ego shows. They don’t realize that it’s their ego that often drives them to do great things in professional sports. When a player expresses such outward confidence in his abilities, it means he has reached a point where the game isn’t overwhelming him anymore. Once you see a quarterback display casual swagger, it is a sign that big things are on the horizon. That is what you saw from Caleb Williams with that response. He didn’t say the words to be flippant.
It was the truth.
You can’t argue with the result. There are maybe two or three other quarterbacks in the sport who have the talent to make that throw. Even fewer have the steel-hardened confidence even to attempt it. Williams is one of them. No Bears quarterback in recent history would’ve been able to pull that off. Jay Cutler had the arm but likely would’ve been intercepted. Jim McMahon had the confidence but not the arm. Williams is in a class by himself, and it’s a strange experience for Bears fans.
