After appearing in all 17 games with the Chicago Bears last season, most would assume Caleb Williams has the edge over Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy heading into the 2025 campaign. But after the first few training camp practices for Williams and McCarthy with their respective teams this summer, it seems like the Vikings' second-year signal-caller is actually the one with the edge.
Unlike Minnesota's quarterback, Williams has had to learn a brand new offense and work with an entirely new coaching staff in Chicago this year. The adjustments haven't gone as smoothly as the Bears would like, and it's resulted in the team's new head coach, Ben Johnson, essentially painting his young passer as a rookie this year.
"There really isn't a ton of carryover from what he was asked to do the play calls or anything of that nature.
I mean, he's always been very comfortable as a shotgun quarterback going back to college and even last year. He's very comfortable in a two-minute setting. He's very comfortable with tempo-type plays, and so now we're asking him to be a little bit more structured in terms of the play calls.
Sometimes there's multiple calls. You know, there's shifts, there's motions, there's a lot more going on mentally than probably there's ever been for him. And so at some point, this thing will start slowing down, and he's going to be able to catch up and his physical ability will take over from there.
But right now, because mentally it is what it is, he's playing a little bit slower than what he's capable of."
Chicago Bears already creating excuses for Caleb Williams before facing the Minnesota Vikings in Week 1
There isn't a ton of room for patience in the NFL these days, especially when it comes to quarterbacks. So it's safe to say that Chicago fans are likely pretty disappointed to hear that Williams still has a ways to go when it comes to learning Johnson's offense.
The Bears and their young quarterback are scheduled to begin the 2025 regular season on their home field in a primetime NFC North matchup against McCarthy and the Vikings on "Monday Night Football".
That night, two totally different approaches on how to handle a young quarterback in the NFL will be on display.
Yes, McCarthy was unable to play during his rookie season with Minnesota due to a knee injury. However, the Vikings' offense, head coach, offensive coordinator, and quarterbacks coach have remained the same since he was selected by the team in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft.
The same can't be said for Williams, and it's possible that the differences in each quarterback's development will be noticeably glaring when the Vikings and Bears hit the field in Week 1.