Caleb Williams kicked things off in the NFL with a great 4-2 record in the 2024 NFL season, but it was a downward spiral from there. The Chicago Bears lost 10 games in a row before securing their fifth win against the Green Bay Packers in their final game of the season.
Now, Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud has shared some gridiron wisdom with the rookie as he enters his sophomore season.
C.J. Stroud Drops Pocket Presence Wisdom for Caleb Williams For Year 2
The Bears struggled so badly last season that they fired Matt Eberflus mid-season, making him the first head coach fired mid-season in franchise history. Williams was inconsistent throughout the year, partly due to mid-season coaching changes.
The Bears’ QB finished with 3,541 passing yards and 20 touchdowns. He struggled with efficiency, finishing 28th in the NFL with a 46.7 quarterback rating while also being sacked a league-high 68 times.
Williams, Stroud, and Bryce Young joined NFL legends Eli Manning and Peyton Manning for the “Franchise Faces” at Fanatics fest. The Texans’ quarterback was asked to give some advice to Williams.
“I don’t know if Caleb likes my advice,” Stroud joked. “Teams prepare more, they know what you are good at, they try to just cut that off. It’s like playing basketball, if you find out a guy can’t go left, they’re going to force you left.”
“So, whatever your weaknesses are, whatever you’ve put on tape and film, that’s what defensive coordinators are watching every single day, and they’re just trying to find twists and schemes.”
Stroud went on to drop a key suggestion for the former first-round pick.
“The main thing is they want you to extend plays every time. If you learn how to just sit in the pocket, and when it’s not down like we’re playing in the shell league, it’s cover four cover two cover six cover five, all these different two high coverages, if it’s not there bro, just get it out of your hand,” he said.
“I think I told you on the field, and the less hits you take, the better. It’s a long, long season. I know you went through that ’cause it’s 17-18 long weeks, and then you add playoffs on there, it gets long. So, the more you can get down, get rid of the ball, check it down and just be smart. I think you’re going to do great, like you have always done.”
Chicago hired Ben Johnson for the head coach position, and the former Detroit Lions OC has already made a flurry of changes to lay the ground for Williams’ sophomore leap.
Williams was sacked a league-leading 68 times last season, and the first thing Johnson did on his arrival was improve the offensive line with three key additions. He then drafted a tight end in the first round and a wide receiver in the second, giving Williams the best supporting cast possible.
Williams’ rookie total of 3,541 passing yards landed him fifth on the team’s list of single-season passing marks, and no QB in the franchise’s history has breached the 4,000 mark. The bar is not very high for Williams to become the Bears’ greatest quarterback, and Johnson has set up everything for him to finally be Chicago’s first 4,000-yard passer and much more beyond that.