Caleb Williams’ Development

Caleb Williams started training camp in a bit of a rough spot. He is in the middle of learning a whole new system, and Coach Johnson won’t be letting him ease into anything.

Although he had a slow start, Williams seems to be improving with every practice. According to coaches and reporters watching practices, Williams had his best day of camp so far on Tuesday. He was on time and in rhythm during 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 drills.

Johnson spoke about Williams after Tuesday’s practice.

“I probably just see growth. He is so much more comfortable right now. Even yesterday, the walk-through, in terms of moving around. We go from gun to under (center) to the tight ends are moving, the receivers are moving. We’re adding more every day. I told him this on the player day off: his process is really clean right now. I’m talking about how he’s preparing. I’m pleased with it.”

There’s a long way to go before these reps matter, but Williams seems to be on the right path so far.

Supporting Cast

Williams is the clear headline for this team coming into camp, but his surroundings have been making some noise as well.

D.J. Moore is being used in unique ways that we didn’t see last season. He is getting carries out of the backfield and is being sent in motion as well. Johnson seems to be utilizing his skillset correctly, unlike the regime last season.

Rome Odunze has been having a very great camp so far. He seems to be getting a large amount of red-zone targets and is building that connection with Williams that they started last season. Johnson calls him a “detailed route runner” and fits the prototype as an X receiver.

Luther Burden III is supposedly the WR3 coming into the year, but has missed four practices to start camp. He participated on Tuesday, but got tossed by Johnson after lining up incorrectly on a play. Burden seems to be a little behind the rest of the group in terms of learning the playbook, but there’s still plenty of time to play catch-up.

Colston Loveland is proving to be worth the hype as a top 10 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. He didn’t participate in rookie minicamp due to an injury, but has participated in the last couple of training camp days and has made an impact. He’s a massive human, and people are starting to notice his size doesn’t match how quick he is. The Bears may have something special in the rookie tight end.