Bears believe in Caleb Williams: 'He's going to be a superstar'

Bears wide receiver DJ Moore was one of the most vocal supporters of Justin Fields last season, even pushing back against the notion that the Bears needed to draft Caleb Williams or — at the time — Drake Maye with the No. 1 overall pick in the draft.

Seven months later, before Williams has even thrown a pass in a game for the Bears, Moore is such a believer in Williams, he acknowledged it was an influence in signing a four-year, $110 million contract extension with the Bears on Tuesday.

“That’s part of the reason,” Moore said. “I think Caleb is going to be excellent. He’s going to be a superstar. I just wanted to be a part of that.”

Truth be told, Moore said he was speaking as much out of loyalty and friendship as anything last year.

“You’re going to fight for the quarterback that’s with you, that you’re going to rock with during the season,” Moore said. “Justin is my guy, but he was also the quarterback last year. Now we’ve got Caleb — he’s my guy times two because he’s going to be here.”

The idea that the Bears dumping Fields and drafting Williams would cause friction in the Bears’ locker room was one of many myths surrounding the Bears quarterback quandary in the offseason that as of now have been debunked.

Williams has a long, long way to go to prove himself worthy of the hype. But the acceptance of him and excitement about his potential to break the Bears’ chronic cycle of underwhelming/disappointing quarterback play and overall offensive ineptitude is real at training camp.

Unlike the tip-toeing players had to do in training camp with Mitch Trubisky backing up Mike Glennon in 2017 and Fields backing up Andy Dalton in 2021, this team is convincingly all-in on its rookie quarterback.

“He has an uncanny ability to play the quarterback position and do things that other quarterbacks probably can’t,” running back Roschon Johnson said. “Great guy. I think the team has gravitated towards him, and we’re excited.”

For a touted rookie thrust into a big role that has attracted league-wide attention, Williams has had a fine touch in balancing the need to be deferential as a 21-year-old rookie, but headstrong and assertive as any NFL quarterback of any age has to be.

“In the locker room so far he wears his character on his sleeve,” wide receiver Tyler Scott said. “I saw somewhere that he was the first [Bears] quarterback since [Jim] McMahon to have some character to him. You kind of see that in the locker room.

“The biggest thing for him right now is he’s putting his head down and working. He’s not worried about not trying to lead, but more so … learning how to follow in order to be a great leader. He’s not just coming in on his high horse like, ‘I’m the quarterback.’ But looking to the vets — Keenan [Allen], DJ [Moore] and Cole [Kmet].”

On and off the field, Williams has shown his new teammates he’s not a typical rookie.

• “He’s a complete pro,” tight end Gerald Everett said.

• “Pocket presence,” guard Teven Jenkins said. We have a three [technique] and a five [technique] on the other side and they both rush outside, and he understands he can just step up because all their Cover 2 drops. It’s like ‘Oh wow, I can just step up,’ and 20 yards easy. He’s sliding in the pocket, seeing the pressures and everything, so I’ve been really impressed by that.”

• “The overwhelming physical capabilities and the things he can do off-schedule,” quarterback Tyson Bagent said. “There’s a lot of plays that can be made within this offense with the capabilities he has outside of the pocket.”

• “His poise has been great,” center Coleman Shelton said. “It’s just the way he’s got confidence in his ability. You can’t play without confidence. He does a great job of that. We feed off that, which is the biggest thing.”

Indeed it is. The Bears purposely built this offense so that Williams doesn’t have to carry it on his shoulders. But in crunch time, and eventually all the time, the Bears will have to follow their quarterback’s lead.