After sitting out the Hall of Fame Game last week against the Houston Texans, Caleb Williams made his much-anticipated NFL debut Saturday against the Buffalo Bills.
It did not take long for the hype around the rookie QB — and first-overall selection in the 2024 NFL Draft — to reach the stratosphere.
Williams got the start for the Chicago Bears on Saturday against the Bills, leading his team on a pair of scoring drives in the first quarter. Williams exited the game having completed 4-of-7 passes for 95 yards, as well as adding one run for 13 yards, as the Bears finished both of his possessions with a field goal.
But it was how Williams played, flashing both the playmaking skills and some nuanced play from the pocket that excited Bears fans this Saturday.
The first glimpse of those playmaking skills came on this first-down play against Buffalo, with Williams fighting in the pocket before simply flipping the ball to running back D’Andre Swift, who had released out of the backfield after helping in pass protection:
As you can see from the replay angle Williams stays and fights, rather than bailing from the collapsing pocket, and simply flicks the football to Swift, turning what could have been a disasterous play into a big gain for the Bears.
As the NFL’s social media team noted, the play came with a hand in the rookie’s face:
Later in the first quarter Williams again showed a little magic on this boot-action play:
Williams comes out of the run fake and starts to roll to his right, but has pressure in his face, in the form of Buffalo pass rusher Dawuane Smoot. Williams uses a quick pump fake to buy himself a little more time as he continues his roll to the right, and then throws an absolute strike to tight end Cole Kmet for a 26-yard gain.
This replay angle of the throw shows how Williams manages to buy a little more time and space to get off the pass, as well as the torque Williams generates with his upper body to deliver this throw with as much velocity as possible:
But the play that might have Bears fans the most excited — and with reason — might be his first completion of the game. With Chicago facing a 3rd and long Williams again fights in the pocket before delivering a strike, this time to D.J. Moore:
What stands out about this play? How Williams works through his reads and shows some subtle pocket movement before making this throw. While we do not have the “All-22” angle of this play, it looks as if the Bears are running a “sticks” or “all-curls” concept, with three receivers running curl routes right at the first-down marker, with a check-down receiver releasing to the flat on each side of the field.
Williams opens to his right to read out the concept but then gets his eyes to the left side of the formation and Moore’s curl route. As he does this the edges start to soften on the pocket, but he uses some subtle footwork to climb and move in the pocket, before delivering a strong throw for the completion to move the chains.
Chicago finished that drive, as they did their second possession, with a field goal.
Williams’ day was done after just the two scoring drives, but it was a strong debut for the rookie. He flashed some of that magic in the pocket, but also showed more nuanced elements of playing quarterback that Bears fans will love to see.
So if the Chicago fan in your life — looking at you Ricky O’Donnell — is a little excited this weekend, you now know why.
