Getting to know Caleb Williams

The buzz is building that the Chicago Bears are staying at one for USC’s Caleb Williams.

Before this week, there were plenty of Chicago Bears fans who only knew Caleb Williams from watching him play in college. Others only knew about him from the highlight reels. While others learned about him from the many rumors circulating around traditional and social media.

He’s a bad teammate. He’s cocky and selfish. His family meddles too much. He’s too small. He’s soft. He’ll only accept being drafted by the Commanders. Yadda yadda yadda…

But as his teammates started to meet the media at the collegiate all-star games, the negative narratives began to shift. They talked him up as a person, praised his leadership, and highlighted his competitiveness. That positive discourse continued from USC players at the NFL Combine, too.

Reports make it seem more and more likely that the Bears will stay at one and draft Wiliams, which the oddsmakers concur with, so about that rumor that won’t die about him forcing his way to Washington.

He did a one-on-one sit down with ESPN a few days ago and said, “If I get drafted by the Bears, I’ll be excited.”

Williams reiterated that excitement in his combine press conference, saying “The Bears were a 7-10 team last year. That’s pretty good for a team that has the first pick. They got a good defense. They have good players on offense. It’s pretty exciting if you can go into a situation like that.”

Speaking of the Combine, while Williams was one of several top prospects who decided not to participate in the drills, he did stand in line to get measured.

• Height: 6-1 1/8
• Weight: 214
• Arm: 32
• Hand: 9.75
• Wingspan: 75.88

He also stuck around Lucas Oil Stadium to hang out and watch his fellow quarterbacks perform today.

Caleb’s refusal to do medicals at the combine irked plenty of fans and challenged how it’s always been, but his explanation is logical.

The Bears will be able to view all his medicals and examine him when they have their official visit, as will the other teams Williams plans to meet with.

He isn’t the only top prospect to opt out of the league-wide medical examinations at this year’s combine, and this, too, will happen more frequently in the coming years.

I remember long ago when the first top prospect announced he wasn’t going to do the drills at the combine, and traditionalists were furious. But now it happens every year.

There was an initial QB who announced he wouldn’t throw at the combine one day, and now it’s common. In fact, it’s expected. Our own Greg Gabriel explained it’s pointless.

It’s my opinion that the QB throwing sessions at the Combine are the least important drill done. It just isn’t set up for the player to perform well. He has no chance to get into any type of rhythm. At the Combine, a QB waits in line, makes two or three throws to receivers he has never seen before, and then waits five or six minutes before he has a chance to throw again. It’s ridiculous.

When an agent holds out a quarterback from the workout, I don’t know of any club that holds that against the player. We see a quarterback at his best on his Pro day and preferably a private workout.

More recently (2017), a couple of college prospects elected to skip their bowl games, and people were outraged. But both those players were drafted in the top ten, and now players are opting out of late season games every single year.

Things change.

Here are some clips from Caleb’s combine experience.

You can check out some quotes from Williams’ combined interview in our article here or head over to YouTube and watch it in its entirety.

Williams also did nearly ten minutes with NBC, and you can watch it here.

Have these last couple of days changed your perception of Caleb Williams?