For Caleb Williams, OTAs more vital for him than any other NFL player

Carmen Vitali

NFC North Reporter

The dirty little secret about the NFL is that there is no true offseason. 

That’s especially true for rookies coming into their first year in the league.

The NFL does a great job staying relevant all year long and honestly, if you’re a player, you need to stay in shape year-round to keep up, regardless of how long you’ve played.

The level of competition has gotten so high that it isn’t feasible to take months off from training and expect to keep up with your peers come the rigorous weeks of the NFL season. It can also make getting injured more likely.

Each individual NFL team therefore has an offseason program that is designed to help keep players in shape. The majority of the offseason training activities are voluntary, save for mandatory mini-camp in June. Because of that, some dismiss OTAs as superfluous or not important.

They’re anything but for Chicago Bears rookie quarterback Caleb Williams.

In fact, given the weight of expectation on the first-year signal caller, OTAs could be more essential for him than anyone else in the league.

There’s a lot of new in Chicago, in general. Yes, Williams was selected with the first overall pick and head coach Matt Eberflus has already named him the starter, but he will be working under new offensive coordinator Shane Waldron and with new receivers Keenan Allen and rookie Rome Odunze. Tight end Gerald Everett is new to Chicago. So is running back D’Andre Swift. Center Coleman Shelton joined the team in free agency. 

OTAs will be their first chance to really work together. The more reps Williams can get with his new team, the more he’ll be ready to meet the sky-high expectations Chicago already has for him. There is no substitute for time.

On paper, the Bears look like they cannot fail. General manager Ryan Poles has spent years now curating Chicago’s roster. He overhauled it so that when Williams was selected first overall, a pick the Bears…

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Publish date : 2024-05-23 23:44:54

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