August 2024 has now become the Caleb Williams Show across the NFL.
Already two preseason games in, and the first overall pick for the Chicago Bears is showing the football world that his flair for dynamics has had no trouble carrying over to the league. Saturday, however, showed Williams at his masterful best and why the franchise made him their first pick.
‘Dude Is Special!’ Among Notable Reactions for Caleb Williams
This time, the 2022 Heisman Trophy winner out of USC lured his off-platform throwing style to Soldier Field against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Williams went from calmly surveying the field to spinning to his left and firing this beautiful bomb at fellow rookie Rome Odunze.
CALEB WILLIAMS TO ROME ODUNZE 🤯pic.twitter.com/KJx5kreq4Y
— Pro Football Network (@PFN365) August 17, 2024
That type of throw brought excitement out of Fox Sports 1 personality and former NFL linebacker Emmanuel Acho.
“Caleb Williams is just ridiculous,” Acho began on X (formerly known as Twitter). “Chaos around him, off platform, off time, and he throws a 42 yard touch pass. This dude is special!”
Acho wasn’t the only notable reaction for Williams.
A couple of ESPN personalities chimed in with their takes. One was NFL insider Field Yates.
“Caleb doing what he does. Special football player,” Yates shared on X.
Fellow ESPN personality Mina Kimes went with a humorous going-to-heaven theme for her reaction to Williams’ throw to Odunze.
That Caleb throw 😭 pic.twitter.com/c62sS7v7yN
— Mina Kimes (@minakimes) August 17, 2024
The dime to Odunze, though, wasn’t the only explosive play that showed Williams at his best.
Here, during this 3rd-and-goal inside the red zone, with Williams helping run the Bears’ two-minute offense, he has the Bengals running in circles before he decides to call his own number and get into the end zone.
Caleb. Williams.
📺: FOX pic.twitter.com/2YcTQ98uB2
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) August 17, 2024
Williams has seen action in two of the Bears’ three preseason games. He sat out of the Hall of Fame Game, the team’s preseason opener. But now, fans who wanted a small sample size of what Williams is capable of in the NFL are getting a great introduction.
Yet, even with his big plays comes a critical, skeptical audience — one that a former offensive lineman turned analyst decided to address.
Analyst Defends Williams’ Big Plays in Preseason
Some analysts and fans are trying to knock Williams with this reminder: “It’s just preseason.”
Williams is joining the rest of the rookie class, plus other veterans, in being bottled with their snap counts during August as a way to save their energy for the regular season. Furthermore, there will be detractors who will bring up how Williams made his biggest plays facing the non-starters on the Bengals’ defense.
But former NFL offensive lineman Geoff Schwartz helped address that audience. Schwartz, who played for five teams and earned All-Conference honors in the Pac-12 playing for Oregon, simply stated that Williams’ August highlights are impressive regardless of who the first-year quarterback is facing.
“Against backups, against third stringers, against the starters … this throw is awesome against anyone,” Schwartz posted on X.
Against backups, against third stringers, against the starters …
this throw is awesome against anyone. https://t.co/qGWXy3F2xv— Geoff Schwartz (@geoffschwartz) August 17, 2024
Williams was responsible for leading 10 of the Bears’ 17 points before the fourth quarter. The rookie guided Chicago to all 10 of its points in the first half, taking the 10-3 halftime lead.
