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Former NFL GM ‘not convinced’ about Caleb Williams thriving with Chicago Bears
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- Former NFL GM ‘not convinced’ about Caleb Williams thriving with Chicago Bears
Kirby Lee-Imagn Images Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
When the Chicago Bears landed the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft thanks to their trade involving the Carolina Panthers moving up for Bryce Young in 2023, it was widely assumed that they'd select Caleb Williams , the consensus No. 1 overall pick.
Not long after, the Bears traded their existing starting quarterback and fellow former first-round pick, Justin Fields . That was yet another signal that the Bears were fully convinced Williams could become Chicago's franchise quarterback.
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Yet, as Williams prepares for his second year in the NFL, one former general manager, Mike Tannenbaum, still isn't convinced he's the solution in Chicago.
"I am not (convinced about Williams in Chicago). I worked with Ben Johnson in Miami , the new head coach of the Bears. He is going to be a rule-based, disciplined play caller and coach. When you have 68 sacks? Look, the Bears were not great in coaching, not great in personnel last year but you have to bear some of that responsibility. No team has done more for their quarterback in this offseason than the Bears. We'll see if he'll get better, but I am concerned by his lack of his discipline in his fundamentals, that's not going to allow him to maximize his potential."
It's too early to start exercising caution when it comes to Williams. Still, Tannenbaum's analysis is interesting.
Is he simply saying something many others are too afraid to do by criticizing someone who some felt was a borderline generational talent? Or does he have some inside information, suggesting that Williams won't handle his new head coach Ben Johnson's "rule-based, disciplined" ways?
Either way, looking back on Tannenbaum's analysis by season's end and surely in a few years will be fun to track. Yet, many would suggest that there's nothing from the former No. 1 overall pick's debut season that should raise any serious red flags.
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Related: See where Caleb Williams lands in Sportsnaut's NFL quarterback rankings
