LAKE FOREST, Ill. — When the Cincinnati Bengals drafted Joe Burrow with the first pick of the 2020 draft, there was no question what was going to happen next.
There was no overthinking it. No song and dance. No questions. Coach Zac Taylor anointed Burrow as the starter from the moment he was selected.
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In his 10-game rookie season — he tore his ACL and MCL in his left knee in November — Burrow completed 65 percent of his passes for 2,688 yards, 13 touchdowns and five interceptions. And one year later, he led the Bengals to the Super Bowl.
The Bears are hoping they found their Burrow in Caleb Williams, a No. 1 overall pick who was also immediately handed the keys to an embattled NFL franchise.
GO DEEPERCaleb Williams, Bears 'D' make big plays, face challenges vs. Bengals in joint practiceThere are arguments for and against starting a rookie in the toughest job in sports. But Burrow knows, from experience, why it’s basically a must if he’s going to play that season.
“I’ll never quite understand when you draft a guy that you know is going to be your starter, but then you don’t name him your starter immediately,” he said after a joint practice with the Bears on Thursday. “And so then he misses out on all those reps with the ones that you would have had had you just come in as the starter.
“That’s what was great about my situation. Zac (Taylor) told me I was the starter as soon as I got drafted and I got all those reps with the ones in training camp — we didn’t have OTAs that year. Those reps are so valuable, and every rep you grow and you learn so much from. I think that’s always a challenge if that doesn’t happen.”
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In 2017, the Bears drafted one of Burrow’s Mr. Ohio Football predecessors, Mitch Trubisky. He was the backup to Mike Glennon during OTAs, training camp and the first four games of the season before being thrust into action.
In 2021, the Bears drafted Justin Fields. He backed up Andy Dalton until the veteran got hurt in the second game of the season. Then, Fields was thrust into action with little prep work with the first team.
Both situations were incredibly awkward for everyone involved. Neither Trubisky nor Fields showed much in their rookie years, they never reached their potential here and now both are ex-Bears.
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One could argue that Williams, like Burrow, is more equipped to start immediately than Trubisky and Fields were, but since everyone knew they would start at some point that season for bad teams, it didn’t make sense to have them be less prepared. But that was how it went then, and because of those failures, the leadership at Halas Hall is different today.
Williams has been taking the No. 1 reps since rookie minicamp, and the Bears, who are trying to win this year, are confident he will learn on the fly.
When people ask how Williams looks at practice, I say he’s showing the normal rookie growing pains, but the talent and potential are clearly there. Every practice, seemingly, he makes some wow throws. You can see them on “Hard Knocks.”
But for one day, Williams wasn’t the best quarterback in Lake Forest.
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Thursday was supposed to be the most awaited day of training camp with the Bengals in Lake Forest for a joint practice before Saturday’s preseason game.
A steady rain hampered the vibe and the offenses. Fans weren’t allowed in and reporters took notes while holding umbrellas.
But there was still a thrill in the air as Burrow and Williams threw passes at the same time on adjoining fields. It felt like I was watching a tennis match and I turned my head to watch them duel with the opposing first-team defenses. While it wasn’t perfect, for us, it was football bliss in the drizzle.
Though Burrow threw three picks against the Bears’ No. 1 defense — and they definitely let him know about it — watching the throws he did complete almost felt unnatural.
Where was the indecision? The inaccuracy? The head-scratching interceptions. Until recently, those were the hallmarks of QB play around Halas Hall. (Williams threw a pick on his first play of seven-on-seven red-zone drills but quickly settled down.)
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Burrow and Williams have known each other since the former hosted the latter on a visit to LSU. They’ve thrown together in the summers in Los Angeles.
Unlike Williams, who is the toast of Chicago already, Burrow had the luxury of debuting during the fan-free COVID-19 season.
But as an Ohio native taking the reins of an Ohio team coming off a Heisman/national title season, he had plenty of pressure on his shoulders. He thinks Williams’ big-market experience at USC will help him adjust to the pressures of the NFL.
While there’s no game plan for immediate quarterback success in Chicago, Burrow has some ideas on how it worked for him.
“I think what separates people is when you can maintain a levelheaded, even-keel aura, personality, whatever you want to call it,” Burrow said. “There’s going to be ups and downs. But can you come back the next day and go about your process the same way you did the week before whether you won or whether you’ve lost. Whether you threw four picks or you had five touchdowns. You just have to have the mindset at the end of the day that you’re going to be better.”
Burrow was always extremely confident, leading his rural college-town high school to an unlikely appearance in an Ohio state championship game. And once he got to start at LSU, his second school, he took off. Williams didn’t have the same kind of storybook end to his college career, but he’s a fellow Heisman winner.
While Burrow was beloved coming into the NFL, Williams was criticized, mostly for his supposed personality quirks — remember the anonymous football guy who compared him to Prince?
As a rookie leading a veteran offense, Williams seems confident and in control. Players respect talent, so he won’t have an issue commanding the huddle. We can’t know how he’ll handle the spotlight, and the pressure, until the season begins. Burrow reminded us what NFL players mean when they talk about the “grind.”
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“What you don’t realize at the beginning is how long the season is,” Burrow said. “You grow and you learn as time goes with how to maintain your body and maintain your mind for those tough times. Because (weeks) 11 to 15 is a grind. You only get one bye week. My last college year, we had 12 games and two bye weeks.”
Is there a recipe for success as a rookie QB? As Burrow noted, there’s no teacher like experience.
“The season is a grind, you learn from every rep,” Burrow said. “As long as you grow and you learn and you have great coaches, then you’re all right.”
(Photo: Rich Barnes / Getty Images)
Jon Greenberg is a columnist for The Athletic based in Chicago. He was also the founding editor of The Athletic. Before that, he was a columnist for ESPN and the executive editor of Team Marketing Report. Follow Jon on Twitter @jon_greenberg
