The whole NFL world celebrated the Bears’ decision to make Caleb Williams the starting quarterback. However, after just two games in the regular season, the opinion is now wildly different.
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Nick Wright, for instance, seemed very optimistic about the former Heisman winner’s talent to lead the Chicago-based franchise. Wright even claimed that Caleb’s addition might turn the team into a Super Bowl contender. However, even his sentiment has since changed.
While discussing the Bears’ Week 2 loss on First Things First, Nick Wright admitted that, like many other analysts, he had hastily judged Williams’s ability to translate his collegiate success to the NFL.
However, he didn’t place all the blame on the rookie, also pointing to the team’s offensive line, which failed to provide adequate protection for the quarterback:
“I clearly overestimated the talent of the Bears offensive line and overestimated how quickly Caleb would be excellent.”
Nevertheless, the leading analyst has yet to panic about the whole situation. He saw enough improvement in the rookie from Week 1 that he knows that it’s only the beginning.
“Neither of those things makes me panic because I do believe Caleb and I know coach said yesterday the bars on the ground showed substantial improvement from week one to week two,” he continued.
In his two games with the team, Caleb failed to score a single touchdown and was intercepted twice in the seven-sack game against the Texans. However, he did improve his passing with 62.2% completions compared to 48.3% in his debut game.
That said, as the conversation progressed on First Things First, Wright’s co-host Chris Broussard appeared sympathetic to the rookie. He even had one interesting theory to justify this underwhelming start to the season.
Chris Broussard claims ‘Rookie Growing Pains’ are behind Williams’s rough start
The FS1 analyst explained that the rookie quarterback is going through a learning phase, facing something that every college player goes through when they turn pro. Therefore, Broussard argued that the quarterback would see a major improvement in the coming weeks and there is no reason to panic or make any hasty calls.
“The defense is legit. Caleb is just hurting himself going through the rookie growing pain… But I thought he did show improvement. He was much better on schedule. He did miss, though, a lot of open passes.”
In his opinion, the team had a stable defense line and if Williams improves in the coming weeks, the team will start to catch up.
In the week 2 game, Williams covered 174 yards and was looking more comfortable in the pocket, but was nowhere near the level of the Texans’ quarterback, CJ Stroud.
The team has a solid offense with Keenan Allen, DJ Moore, and D’Andre Swift, in the receiving room. If Williams improves his performance in the coming weeks, they could put on a strong showing against most teams in the league, especially given their arguably favorable schedule.
