Matt Eberflus Believes He Has Secret Weapon To Develop Caleb Williams

Lots of people have reservations about Matt Eberflus going into 2024. While his team did improve last year despite some brutal setbacks on the roster and in games, their concerns don’t lie with the general mood of the team. They are more about his qualifications regarding Caleb Williams. Eberflus is a defensive coach. That has been his area of expertise for decades. Many don’t believe that makes him the best option to elevate one of the best young quarterback prospects to come out of college in years.

Eberflus doesn’t seem phased by those questions. He isn’t ignorant of the situation. He’s often expressed that he faces a difficult challenge in building the proper infrastructure around Williams. He and GM Ryan Poles have done well in that department, to his credit. They gave him a stable offensive line and three excellent wide receivers. On top of that, he’ll have an experienced offensive coordinator he’s worked with before to help guide the way. However, Eberflus does think the Bears have one other big advantage.

He alluded to it during his press conference before rookie minicamps.

“Yeah, so we’re fortunate that Thomas (Brown) went through it last year. He was at Carolina, obviously, and so we got to glean some information from him. We certainly talked to guys throughout the league that have had this early pick at quarterback. And I got a lot of good information from those guys. Just practice reps or psychology? Everything. Everything. The whole process. You would go through the whole process of that. And, you know, certainly have good friends in the league that you would lean on to talk to that about.
And we certainly got some good information for those guys.”

Thomas Brown can share tons of valuable info with Matt Eberflus.

He was the offensive coordinator in Carolina last season and had a front-row seat for the disaster that unfolded. The Panthers’ handling of Bryce Young as a rookie was full of vital lessons on how not to do things. They didn’t surround him with decent weapons, had a poor offensive line, and fired the head coach before the season ended. Before that, they changed play callers multiple times, throwing everything into confusion. Brown is almost certain to tell Eberflus that stability and consistent belief in and support of Williams are critical to his development. There can be no wavering once the course is set.

The Bears avoided the other Panthers’ mistakes regarding no receivers or blocking. Waldron also brings some expertise working with quarterbacks during his time in Seattle. Geno Smith played his best football under his watch. Matt Eberflus has approached this entire enterprise the right way. He was never selfish, choosing to focus resources on fortifying the offense while hiring a young staff filled with coaches who have come from quarterback-savvy trees. They say somebody learns far more from failure than success.

Maybe the head coach is right and Brown is an invaluable asset.