Caleb Williams had the best rookie season a Chicago Bears quarterback has ever produced. It’s not even close. He finished with 3500 yards, 20 touchdowns, and six interceptions for an 87.8 passer rating. Nobody says that is great, but it’s certainly not enough to justify the criticism he’s received all offseason. Much of it comes from former quarterbacks. Boomer Esiason, J.T. O’Sullivan, Chase Daniel, and Kurt Warner have all taken their chances to criticize him. That number grew this past week.
Former Pro Bowler Matt Hasselbeck led the Seattle Seahawks to a Super Bowl in the 2000s. He is a notable authority on the position. During an appearance on The Herd with Colin Cowherd, he was asked about Williams. The man didn’t hold back, stating two key issues with the Bears’ young quarterback that can’t be overlooked.
“Sacks hurt your team. They hurt your offensive line, they hurt morale, they hurt your body, but it’s also very bad on the defense… I thought if we were assigning blame to why there were so many sacks last year in Chicago, the majority of the sacks were not the fault of the offensive line. They were the fault of the young quarterback.”
If that weren’t enough, Hasselbeck also questioned Williams’ leadership ability. He isn’t sure the former #1 pick has the maturity to deal with the ups and downs of an NFL season.
“Number two for me would probably be overall leadership. We’re looking at you. I mentioned body language. That bothers me. That really bothered me how he handled that last year.”
Caleb Williams suffers from the unfair reality of modern football.
There once was a time in the NFL when rookie quarterbacks were allowed to make mistakes and learn. They didn’t have to be stars right out of the gate. That has changed over the past two decades. Great rookie seasons from guys like Matt Ryan, Andrew Luck, Justin Herbert, C.J. Stroud, and Jayden Daniels have skewed the expectations. Now, if you don’t succeed immediately, you’re already in bust territory. Never mind that Caleb Williams was thrown to the wolves in a nonsensical offense under an overmatched coaching staff behind an offensive line that was never healthy.
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Yes, he deserves criticism for holding the ball too long. It is something he needs to work on. Here’s something to keep in mind. The most times Hasselbeck was ever sacked in a season was 42. He spent most of his career playing for Hall of Fame head coaches, too, like Mike Holmgren and Pete Carroll. Maybe he should cut the kid some slack.
Cowherd is a douche … and I’m sorry, Matt WHO???
@Detroit, 1st down, 30secpnds left, Caleb misses an open Moore on crossing route that likely scores a TD. Bad pass, bad on Caleb. Next play an inexplicable QB draw is called where nobody blocks anyone. Bad on Waldron. Thats one screenshot of how the season went. Caleb has to be better when the play is there, and Ben can’t put Caleb in those terribly designed situations. A QBdraw with no timeouts left? Pure genius.
Matt Assholesack didn’t lead shit. The seahawks’ Shawn Alexander and a fierce defense lead them to a SB, (appearance.) Kurt Warner was on an absolutely LOADED team. Cade McCown probably would have made it to a SB on that team. The rest of those dumbasses only contribute to the soap opera bullshit that ruins the game. Friggin house wives from the 70’s. The last few years I stopped watching any of those pregame shows, and football shows that are the equivalent of The View.
The only body language I found concerning wasn’t from Caleb. No, the one that pissed me off was DJ Moore. Quitting on plays. Poor language to and from the huddle. The worst, inexcusable body language was when he shoulder checked Caleb. Anyone who believes this to be accidental is simply fooling themselves.
Go back and watch the tape. Were some of the sacks on CW? Of course.
But how often did the center of the line end up in his lap? How many times did the OT’s OLE! pass rushers? How many times was he given a stupid, idiotic, nonsense play and told to execute it?
Sorry. Most of the sacks were not solely on CW, but a combination of failures across the board.