Ryan Leaf suggests Bears should not start Caleb Williams during rookie season

The 2024 NFL Draft is only one week away, and let me tell you, I’m so grateful that this is the case, because at the moment, the discourse around the league is starting to get a little wonky. Not only do we have legendary former head coach Bill Belichick coming out and saying not to believe anything you’re hearing in regards to draft rumors until the morning of the draft, but this down time in the NFL calendar always seems to give birth to ridiculous takes that we simply do not need. Take, for example, what former NFL quarterback (and draft bust) Ryan Leaf had to say about Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears during an appearance on the Rich Eisen Show.

“He’s incredibly talented,” Ryan Leaf stated, seemingly in defense of Williams, before then taking a critical look at the Bears organization. “I just don’t think he can be the starting quarterback for the Chicago Bears this year. I think he has to sit a year.”

Rich Eisen then provided some pushback, and questioned whether or not Ryan Leaf really believed that was the way things would play out in Chicago. Leaf clarified that this isn’t what he expects will happen, but instead, what he believes should happen for the betterment of both the Bears and Caleb Williams.

(Don’t worry, I’m confused too)

“No he’s going to play and it’s the worst possible scenario for him, because simply they’re a playoff team. They were a playoff team last year, if that Browns game and that Broncos game go differently, if Justin Fields isn’t hurt through the middle of the year I think where they were playing so well, they were a playoff team. So they’re a playoff team this year, if they don’t make the playoffs or if they stumble early or they’re in a place, I don’t care if it’s a rookie quarterback, Matt Eberflus is gone. So now you’re talking about a rookie quarterback now and a new head coach again with a new offense again, you’ve just set him up for absolute failure.”

Leaf would go on to say that the Bears should’ve cleaned house in the offseason, firing Matt Eberflus and hiring a new head coach ahead of bringing in Caleb Williams. On that front, I think you could make the case that Leaf does have a point. In fact, that was the low-key hope of many Bears fans, myself included, heading into the offseason. But Eberflus was retained, Shane Waldron was brought in as the Bears new offensive coordinator, Keenan Allen and D’Andre Swift joined the team via trade and free agency respectively, and now the Bears enter the 2024 NFL season with well-deserved postseason expectations.

Ryan Leaf went 3-7 as a starter during his rookie season with the San Diego Chargers, and finished the season with just 2 touchdowns and 15 interceptions. So maybe some of this is rooted in knowing how hard it can be to come into the NFL and immediately start. But if Caleb Williams turns out to be Ryan Leaf, it doesn’t matter if the Bears start him from day one or day one-thousand-and-one, he’s not going to be the savior that Bears fans are hoping he’ll be.