Cole Kmet Reveals Caleb Williams Is Nowhere Close To The Issue On Offense
The Chicago Bears offense hasn’t had any outright great days in training camp. That is not to say they’ve been terrible. It is more of an issue of inconsistency. There are bursts of outstanding execution. However, that is soon replaced by mishaps that lead to penalties or stalled drives. Some fear most of it comes from quarterback Caleb Williams and him being a rookie. That is always the place to start in these situations from years past. Cole Kmet was quick to shut that down. Quarterback is far lower on the list of issues with the offensive hiccups.
Most of it centers around operational stuff. Guys haven’t mastered cadences, snap counts, or lining up in the right spots. However, once the snap is off, everything gets way better.
“Execution is number one. Guys going to the right spots, lining up in the right areas, breaking the huddle correctly. So all of those things are really important and that’s kind of what we are looking at right now, operationally. I think we’ve had some hiccups here the past couple of weeks. But I think when you get to post-snap stuff, Caleb has been pretty special. You can see why he’s the number one overall pick when he’s been making some of these throws he’s making. We just have to continue to hone in on this operation and make sure we get our cadences right, the snap counts, lining up correctly, all those things. So if we get to that point and get to the post-snap stuff, I think we will be good.”
Reports from every practice back this up. Most of the problems during 11-on-11 drills don’t stem from Williams’ mistakes. They come from pre-snap penalties, poor snaps, game delays, and mistimed routes. None of this should be a surprise since everybody is learning a new offense under coordinator Shane Waldron.
Cole Kmet can see what happens when things click.
Williams shows it every time. When the protection is good and the routes are crisp, he hits guys for chunk gains almost at will. Keep in mind that he’s practicing against the starting defense, yet he’s managed touchdowns in three different two-minute drills. The trick is getting everybody on the same page from snap to snap. That rarely happens immediately. Guys need time to master the language of a playbook and the responsibilities of each position. If it were easy, anybody could do it. Waldron has been here before.
His first year in Seattle was a mixed bag, but the unit got better with execution as the season went along. They also ranked among the best in avoiding pre-snap penalties, so it’s reasonable to expect the Bears offensive coordinator to get that stuff ironed out. The bigger problem is the offensive line. Three starters have missed practices over the past week alone. Cole Kmet understands the only way to maximize Williams is by keeping him upright. One can only hope they get it figured out.