Shapiro: Caleb Williams Has Regressed

Alex, how are you? I'm doing great. How you doing, Jer?

I'm very well. Thank you for taking the time and joining us. I guess right out of the gate. Shane Waldron gets the boot today to be expected after what they've done or too short notice given the fact he hasn't even had the job for a year. So, with a backup guard getting the ball at the goal line, you know, the Hail Mary kind of covered that up. And the Bears offense just never really got back on track after that moment. Something needed to change.

This felt like the change that was going to be made. So, not entirely surprising to be honest, even though, even though, you know, it did happen after, you know, I mean, he was hired this offseason, so he didn't even have a full season on the job. Alex, you think about the chain of command, chain of just accountability for Eberfluss. Is he kind of lined up next at the end of the season? What keeps him in the seat come January?

Absolutely. If things don't get turned around soon, you've got to imagine his seat is going to be very hot. And it's fair to question the hiring process that led to the hiring of Shane Waldron after you let him go after less than a year, right? You went through a hiring process and landed on Luke Getze. He lasted two seasons and then Luke Getze is already out with the Raiders. Then you go through this hiring process again and you land on Shane Waldron. So, Matt Eberfluss is 0 for 2 hiring offensive coordinators. So, yeah, you know, there deserves to be a critical eye on that process and how he's landing on those guys. And, you know, the Bears second half of the season is tough. If they don't look better over the second half of the year, you have to imagine Eberfluss will be allowed to eat. Alex Japier was joining us from the Chicago Sports Network.

Well, let's let's climb a little bit higher. What does this mean for Ryan Polls? Does he get kind of like to sit back and watch the fires burn over there?

Like he has to be feeling it too, no? I think there is some valid criticism you could put onto Ryan Polls' shoulders as well. You know, I think GMs probably get, you know, two quarterbacks, two coaches it feels like. And this is one and one for him since he inherited Justin Fields, right? Caleb Williams is really his first quarterback and Matt Eberfluss is his first head coach. But, you know, part of the issues with the offense, you know, Shane Waldron deserves his share of the blame for where things have gone wrong. You know, at times, Caleb Williams hasn't looked great, but that's kind of also been expected as a rookie quarterback. You know, Jayden Daniels and CJ Stroud have kind of reset expectations for rookies.

But those are kind of the exceptions and not the rules. So Caleb Williams doesn't play great, but the offensive line has also struggled at times and the depth hasn't been good. You know, they have been banged up up front, but they haven't had answers when guys go down. And, you know, this is the next man up league and the offensive line injuries should be expected, right? They happen to every team all the time, every season. And the offensive line just has not been, you know, up to snuff in certain moments. Whether it's miss assignments, whether it's combo blocks, I mean the pre-snap penalties on the offensive line are piling up. So there's plenty of blame to go around and when you look at the way the Bears were built, they have so much invested in their skill players, right? There's so much talent between DJ Moore, Keenan Allen, Roma Dunesay, DeAndre Swift. I can go on and on and on and on. But if the guys up front aren't blocking well enough, if the scheme up front isn't up to snuff, you know, some of that has to fall on Rand Paul's shoulders as well.

Well, Alex, let me ask you this. Back to the guys that are on the field, specifically Caleb Williams. We saw the season for him start off flat. Then we saw his touchdown interception ratio shift as they moved to four victories.

And now we've seen the offense completely fall flat. What is your evaluation when it comes down to him outside of the offensive line? Who he's been able to connect with, how long he's held the ball? What do you see when you watch Caleb Williams?

Well, you know, to be honest, so I actually just rewatched the Cardinals and the Patriots game, the L-22 today. And I feel like I have seen a little bit of a regression from Caleb Williams. You know, he had been so good throwing the ball on time in the rhythm of the offense. And there are moments where he's still doing that over the past two games where he's hitting the back of the drop, he's throwing the ball of anticipation and everything looks perfect. But then there are times where he is not throwing the ball to open receivers. It seems like he's seeing them and he's deciding not to pull the trigger. Or he's waiting a moment too soon to pull the trigger and that allows the defender to close the gap and make a pass breakup. There are times where his pocket presence is starting to take a hit because he's getting hit. You can feel that clock speeding up and you can see his eyes falling down where previously he had been so good about keeping his eyes up. So, you know, rookie quarterbacks, it's always going to be a roller coaster.

That's something we've talked about a lot in Chicago. This is going to be a roller coaster with Caleb Williams and he seems to be at kind of the downswing. So, yeah, he hasn't looked as exceptional as he did earlier. But again, Shane Waldron wasn't doing him any favors at times. At times his playmakers weren't doing him any favors where you watch a play, Caleb Williams hits the back of his drop, the protection is good and nobody's open. You know, whether it's guys not beating their man or just too many long developing routes where there's not a quick outlet, right? There were so many times where they're running berts to take a shot and shot plays are great, you got to take your shots.

But there's no check down option. There's no quick outlet if a guy isn't winning downfield. You know, it's like everybody running downfield and if nobody's winning, then Caleb Williams doesn't know where to go with the ball. There were times where, you know, Shane Waldron is trying to move the pocket, but the way in which he's getting that pocket moved outside of the tackle box, it was just really ineffective.

We were seeing multiple receivers in the same spot at times, which obviously brings defenders to those same spots. And then to touch on the chemistry that you mentioned, the chemistry has looked rough throughout the season, and that's just something that comes with reps. You know, I think it's actually been kind of slow developing with Keenan Allen. Picked up a little bit lately, but I think that chemistry with Keenan Allen has been slow developing. I think the chemistry with DJ Moore at times has been slow developing. Interestingly, the other rookie, Ro Madunze, those two look like they built a bit of a rapport more quickly.

I don't know if it's because they are two rookies in the same class and, you know, to have a little bit, you know, of extra time together in the offseason, I'm not exactly sure. But yeah, there have been chemistry issues as well, where it's like Caleb Williams is throwing to a spot where he thinks his guy is going to be, and his guy is a step behind or breaks off a route a little bit differently. You know, all those things were to be expected. We thought those things were going to become. Those were the bumps in the road we expected. But now, you know, 10, 11 weeks into this thing, those chemistry issues, it's clear they're still working on it, in my opinion. Well, let me ask you this, Alex.

We took a call last hour before you joined us. It was pretty much, oh my God, here the Chicago Bears go, ruining another quarterback, just like they did to Justin Fields. Are you sounding any alarm bells that this could be a tanking situation, that they're tanking this guy?

I'm not there yet, because we haven't even made it through a full season. It will be really interesting to see how the Bears move forward with the offensive plan. I think, you know, if they make changes now, and the changes work, and they give Caleb Williams some easy throws, some easy answers. You know, those moments where I'm saying he's hitting the back of the drop and nobody's open. If they can scheme some of that open so that he hits the back of the drop, and somebody is always open, then obviously the change is great. But if they make this change to Thomas Brown, and then, you know, they've got a new offensive coordinator over the offseason, and then it takes two seasons for that to come together. And no, actually it wasn't working out, and now you are doing the same thing that kind of happened with Justin Fields, then I'll start to sound the alarm bells. But 10 weeks, you know, we're in week 11 now, into this guy's professional career, I'm not ready to panic yet.

Alex, final question for you. What do you expect from the Chicago Bears the rest of the way? There was some postseason optimism by some, it doesn't look like that's going to be the case. What do you see happening the rest of the way?

I do not see a postseason in the Bears' future, unless Thomas Brown, as I said, can really turn things around. Now I will say, the Bears offense felt like it did not have an identity, it was like this hodgepodge of ideas. But one thing recently that seemed to work has been running the ball under center, single back, DeAndre Swift just getting north-south. That looked like it's worked.

If they can identify, hey, this is our identity, let's build something around this specifically. And if the defense can, you know, take away and score on defense, that's something that they were doing, you know, they were taking the ball a lot during that hot stretch. If they can, you know, get that takeaway and bunches happening, thing happening again, and get a little bit more consistency on offense, I do think that the Bears can play better football again. Am I saying they're going to be a playoff team?

No. But, you know, I do think that they can at least build some good momentum through their divisional schedule, through the second half of the season, so that you're entering the offseason on an up note. I still think that that is possible. That is, you know, a potential outcome here. Could they flame out? I mean, that absolutely could happen too. So it remains to be seen how the rest of the season will play out.

But I do think that the Bears can get their legs under them again and start playing better football again. Okay. Well, Alex, let's see what they do if they do enough to keep Matt Eberfluss in his seat. Alex, where can people follow you and your work with the Chicago Sports Network? You can follow me at Alex Shapiro CHSN on Instagram.

I'm at A-SHAP CHSN. And then, you know, watch our channel, tune into our website. We got great stuff. We're putting a ton of content out on our social handles. So, yeah, you know, you can also reach me at the Charter Podcast. It used to be known as the Undercenter Podcast, but we've rebranded the Charter Podcast and I'm there as well. So if you want Bears content from me, you can find it many different places.

Amazing. Well, that's why they didn't select you as offensive coordinator. You're too damn busy.

Yes, that's true. I don't need another title added to my name, even though it seems like the Bears will be looking for a new passing game coordinator soon. I'm too busy. Sorry.

Sorry, Bears. You got to look elsewhere. Hey, Alex, appreciate the time. We'll catch you on down the line, okay? Yeah. Thanks so much for having me. You have a good one.