QB Caleb Williams flashes 'things that you can’t really teach' in 2-minute drill
Ask offensive coordinator Declan Doyle what he liked about the penultimate play of the Bears’ two-minute drill Saturday, and his eyes light up.
“Same thing everybody likes,” he said.
Quarterback Caleb Williams took a shotgun snap against a blitzing defense, sprinted right and, without slowing down, lofted a touchdown pass to tight end Cole Kmet.
“That's what you watched at USC,” Doyle said. “His ability to evade. The arm talent.”
Ask Doyle what he thought about the final play of the two-minute drill, though, and things turn more serious. Williams tried to zip a slant pass into the end zone, only to throw the ball behind receiver DJ Moore. The fastball was picked off by cornerback Nahshon Wright.
“We’ll get it corrected,” Doyle said, “and we won’t make the mistake twice.”
Even after one of his best plays in training camp, Williams continues to ride the rollercoaster of a young quarterback learning coach Ben Johnson’s offense. The Bears, though, are learning what he likes — the two-minute drill.
“The best thing he does is the unscripted stuff, the two-minute stuff,” Doyle said. “Where he's able to go out and really play and show the competitiveness that makes him who he is.”
Williams showed glimpses of it last year. In the season finale against the Packers, he took possession down by 1 with 48 seconds left and marched the Bears 47 yards to set up a game-winning field goal. In the Bears’ overtime loss to the Vikings in Week 12, Williams led the Bears on a 40-yard touchdown drive that started with 1:47 left in the game and then, after the team recovered an onside kick, went 27 yards in 21 seconds to set up a game-tying field goal at the gun.
In the last eight weeks of the season, only four teams recorded more first downs in the two-minute drill — at the end of the first and second half — than the Bears. Eight teams had more touchdowns than the Bears’ three, and 11 had more field goals than their three.
Doyle suspects that two-minute NFL offenses feel comfortable to Williams because of the high-octane spread offense he ran at USC. The tempo is sped up, and the field is more wide open.
“His competitiveness comes out in those two-minute situations,” Doyle said. “That’s where he has an edge. He’s not going to allow you to sack him. He’s going to evade. He’s going to do things that you can’t really teach at times.”
What Williams has to work on are the things that need teaching — taking the snap under center, managing the Bears’ audibles and sending players into motion at the right times. The majority of the Bears’ plays will be run with the quarterback under center, after all.
“It’s, every single day, completing the process,” Doyle said. “The little details. Mastering our offense. Mastering what we’re going to ask of him.”
What Williams can do in a wide-open offense with the clock ticking down, though, is going to come in handy.
“The majority of games in this league come down to one possession …” backup quarterback Case Keenum said. “The great ones, they want the ball in their hand, and you can tell Caleb wants the ball in his hand in those moments. Two-minute is a drill where you can rely on guts and instincts, your past training and … the fire of competition and who’s a competitor.
“There’s certain guys when the lights turn on that switch just flips. And he’s got that switch where he can turn it on, And I can’t wait to watch it at Soldier Field and all over the league this year."