Silvy: Why Caleb Williams inspires such optimism for Bears fans

Saturday was something to see at Soldier Field.

The last time the Bears played on the lakefront, it was a snowy New Year’s Eve day and the fanbase was chanting “We want Justin.” As the gates opened for Saturday’s preseason game, thousands of those same fans were wearing No. 18 jerseys.

Adapt or die.

This wasn’t just a fickle fan thing either. In February, DJ Moore went on the NFL Network and discussed the 2024 quarterback class including Caleb Williams, “I still don’t think they compare to Justin right now.”

Following Saturday’s game against the Bengals, Moore also might as well have been wearing Williams’ jersey while describing his new favorite QB and his pocket presence, “Elite, Elite. You seen him out there making people look silly? Yeah, it’s elite”

I’ve been at more than a handful of training camp practices, attended every OTA and minicamp open to the media, and can tell you that Saturday’s game was the best representation of what Williams has looked like at Halas Hall.

He can go a few series looking like a rookie and the offense isn’t clicking, but then will show every practice that he has ability that no quarterback has ever had in a Bears uniform.

And there’s no shame in looking like a rookie. So gear up Bears fans, there will be rough moments and growing pains. I always remind people that in Houston’s seventh game of the 2023 season, CJ Stroud was 16-for-24 for 140 yards and no touchdowns in a 15-13 loss to the Panthers and the Texans fell to a mediocre 3-4. The following week Stroud threw for 470 yards and the Texans would win seven of their last 10 games. The Panthers won twice all year and one of those wins came against Stroud, who is now a star.

The good news is, Williams’ struggles have lessened throughout camp and just two days earlier against the Bengals first string defense, the Bears won the day during the head-to-head practice.

More good news, Matt Eberflus is also showing that he is developing as a head coach. I’ve been critical but would love to see Eberflus grow into the job. There was talk that the Bears wouldn’t play their starters against the Bengals, not only did Eberflus play them, he continued to play the offense when they struggled. He didn’t lean on his original plan, he audibled, didn’t play scared because of injury risk, and Williams came out better for it.

In the latest episode of “Hard Knocks”, the show opened with a cool moment of Eberflus and Williams reviewing the Bills’ tape. Williams explained, “Practice is harder than the game.”

What I love most about Caleb is he’s always looking to throw the football. Eyes downfield. He’ll scramble to throw, not necessarily to run.

That’s what the best NFL quarterbacks do. As he showed us Saturday, he will run if it’s there, but he’s always a quarterback first.

And that’s the biggest difference from Fields. Once Justin would scramble, his eyes would go down and he was looking to run. Fields never would’ve seen Rome Odunze run open during the scramble drill on the 46-yard completion. Everyone was covered, so Williams bought time. Odunze ran deep, and Williams watched for it and made a throw that maybe only a handful of quarterbacks in the NFL could make.

Don’t want to take my word for it?

How about what Tyreek Hill tweeted during the game:

“Caleb Williams so nice he remind me of ……”

As Rome continues to build chemistry with Williams, I wondered which Bears QB/receiving duo holds the most yards since the NFL became a passing league. Since 2000, Jay Cutler/Alshon Jeffrey lead the way with a measly 3,259 yards. Williams and Odunze should break the record while they’re still on their rookie deals, while Williams and DJ Moore will probably top that in less than three years.

We have something here, Bears fans. Something real. Something sustainable. Something to be hopeful about.

Be excited. There’s no reason to pump the breaks, but remember, Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither are rookie quarterbacks.

But together, Williams and Odunze could provide us with our first Bears empire since 1985.

• Marc Silverman shares his opinions on the Bears weekly for Shaw Local. Tune in and listen to the “Waddle & Silvy” show weekdays from 2 to 6 p.m. on ESPN 1000.