Sean McVay Sends Strong Message About Caleb Williams

"He's a stud," McVay said. "I think, even just preparing for him, watching the crunch time throws. I think he did a great job.. you know Ben [Johnson] does an excellent job of putting pressure on defenses, but he's doing a lot of different things pre-snap, which takes a lot of coordination and [creates] challenging parts for the quarterback."

That's extremely high praise coming from one of the league's best coaches. It's not unfounded, either. Williams took much more on his plate in year two than he had as a rookie. That's partially par for the course for a player in his sophomore season, but it's impossible to disregard the coaching turmoil that he endured.

It would've been fair to expect Williams to be behind the eight ball entering year two. Ben Johnson was already his FOURTH play-caller, and he took a league-high 68 sacks as a rookie. Yes, Williams was the first overall pick for a reason, but we've seen extremely talented players falter under much less tumultuous situations.

Williams clearly didn't, though. He didn't even show any cracks in the foundation. He set a franchise record for passing yards, developed into one of the most electrifying young quarterbacks in the league, and proved to be a perfect match with Chicago's new offensive mastermind at head coach..

Unsurprisingly, McVay also addressed the elephant in the room (unprompted). The fourth-and-four conversion heard round the world in the Rams divisional round matchup at Soldier Field.

"The things that are so impressive are when things go off schedule," McVay said. "I mean, I couldn't believe what I witnessed on that fourth down and four. It's one of the most incredible plays that I've ever seen. But he seems like he lights up and he's at his best in the most important moments. You can tell there's a belief that his teammates have in him."

Again, very high praise. It's also the first time that we've heard that type of respect from an opposing head coach in this type of environment. Not to take away from comments during the season, but it's one thing to praise the opposing QB the week leading up to a game (or in the postgame press conference), and it's another to lob praise to that extent in March.

For the first time in the modern era of the NFL (shout out Sid Luckman), the Bears have a certified superstar at the quarterback position. The league has seemingly already taken notice of that fact.