Bears Rookie Report Card: Grading the Rookies After First Quarter of the Season

Caleb Williams, QB

Williams will be the first to tell you he has not had the start to his career that he would prefer. He only has three touchdowns on the year to go with four interceptions and 787 yards. The encouraging thing for Bears fans is that he has grown immensely from game to game.

He threw for 363 yards against the Colts, but it came on 52 attempts and also included a pair of interceptions. Offensive coordinator Shane Waldron received plenty of backlash after that game and came into the Rams game with a much better plan where Williams only attempted 23 passes, but had a completion percentage of 73.9. His completion percentage has gone up in every game so far this season.

The biggest surprise with Williams thus far has been his lack of explosive passes downfield. He was viewed as one of the most prolific throwers coming out of the draft, but we have yet to see that translate to the NFL. He has only completed 5 of 31 passes that have traveled further than 15 yards downfield.

He hasn't simply forgotten how to throw the football deep, it just looks like he is off a little bit with his receivers. That will only improve over time and should not be a concern going forward. He is right where he should be in terms of growth and the big plays are coming.

Grade: C+

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