Not just Caleb: ESPN insider reveals shocking film study lapses inside Bears locker room—and across the NFL

And one of those organizations was the Chicago Bears, circa 2024.

Caleb Was On His Own

In his forthcoming book American Kings: A Biography of the Quarterback, ESPN senior writer Seth Wickersham reported that throughout his rookie season, Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams was left to his own devices in the film room by the Bears’ laissez faire offensive coaching staff.

"No one tells me what to watch,” Williams told his father. “I just turn it on."

You’d think that kind of sideline and locker room malpractice wouldn’t be tolerated in the NFL, but, as Wickersham told Chicago Sports Stuff, you’d be wrong. This self-defeating behavior is more common than one would expect, as witnessed by the case of Alex Smith.

Mr. Smith Goes to the Film Room…Eventually

Of the venerated QB, Wickersham explained, “Smith was drafted by the [San Francisco] 49ers first overall, and he [became] the face of the franchise. He told me would sit in a film room by himself and watch film, and he had no guidance, no idea what he was supposed to be looking at."

Things, however, changed for Smith after he landed in Kansas City. “ After the Chiefs drafted a guy named Patrick Mahomes, [Smith] took it upon himself to get Patrick ready, and one of those things was teaching him how to watch film: What days you watch certain situations, what are the keys you look for, how you look outside in and inside out. That kind of help was lacking [for Caleb Williams] last year in Chicago.”

Looks like the Chicago Bears were a season too late with their LinkedIn post.