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For three weeks of NFL action, people are fighting each other to give the best opinion possible, which is a great time to center the masses and get them to calm down, especially when it comes to young quarterbacks (except for Jaguars fans).
That’s where this week’s Four Verts column begins, with a trip to Chicago to get people cool about the future of their franchise.
Caleb Williams is performing better than people think
Everyone, let’s calm down. It’s time to realize that perhaps NFL fans have been a little spoiled by young quarterbacks like Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, and Lamar Jackson who reached elite status so early in their careers. That’s not the normal path of development, really. Most young quarterbacks need some experience, reps, and plenty of practice before they ascend to the top of the sport, which is a big reason why NFL passing games are down right now. There’s no reason to look at all of these guys with a sense of despair, even with Jayden Daniels having a standout performance on national television that many young players haven’t had to date.
That’s particularly true of Bears rookie Caleb Williams, who currently sits near the bottom of many NFL efficiency statistics, leading people to wonder, three games in, if Chicago might have drafted the wrong player. Phew. Breathe. It’s healthy for you. Slow down. Feel the breeze. It’s way too early to make that proclamation, and honestly, there’s not a reason to freak out about Williams just yet.
The overall numbers have been poor so far. Williams currently ranks 29th in expected points per pass back (-0.34) according to NFL Pro’s list of qualified passers; only Will Levis (-0.44) and Bryce Young (-0.60) have been worse in terms of efficiency. Part of that is due to Williams, who is still testing the limits of what will be possible for him at the NFL level. Part of that is due to a poor showing by the Bears’ offensive line, especially the interior, which has been putrid so far this season. Part of that blame can be attributed to health, as the Bears haven’t had their full arsenal of wide receivers until now.
Even though all of those things are true, Williams has steadily improved since his first start against the Titans and actually put in a quality performance against the Colts, despite the Bears only managing to score 16 points with Williams throwing the ball 52 times.
The playmaking ability is still evident in Williams and he was finally able to generate some big plays in the passing game against fellow rookie Rome Odunze. He handled pressure well for most of the loss to the Colts. His work in the pocket was a big plus for him coming out of USC and that part is starting to carry over to the NFL level. There’s no reason to worry about Williams’ future, or even his present, as long as people give him a chance to struggle a bit and potentially put up bad numbers as a rookie.
In some ways, Williams is going through the same thing Trevor Lawrence did in Jacksonville. Pre-draft expectations were… so He’s so huge that anything other than walking in the door as a top-10 quarterback feels like a letdown. Still, there are enough moments of positivity in Williams’ game that people might just calm down a bit and let him go through the process of acclimating to the NFL. Check out some of these works of the game against the Colts and take a deep breath.
Jayden Daniels is doing exactly what the Commanders need right now.
Look! A young quarterback putting up quality numbers! Jayden Daniels is off to a hot start this season, as the Commanders have a surprising 2-1 record. Daniels has provided a level of playmaking that the Commanders were hoping for when they selected him second overall, and Washington’s offense was finally able to have a highlight-reel game on national television, which wouldn’t have been possible without him.
Sure, the Bengals defense is terrible. That’s undeniable. However, they’re still only the third pro defense Daniels has faced to this point in his career, and he completed 21 of his 23 pass attempts with a game-clinching pass to Terry McLaurin late in the fourth quarter. After a more conservative approach early in the first two games he played, Daniels broke loose against the Bengals by averaging 9.2 passing yards per attempt and taking risks downfield. He looked more like the Daniels who lit up the SEC en route to a Heisman Trophy, which is a great sign for Commanders fans.
The game plan worked well to his strengths. Daniels is a great deep pass thrower down the sideline and can also operate quickly in the short passing game as offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury loves to do. Daniels didn’t throw much to the middle of the field, but he took advantage of what the Bengals gave him and was a bit more disciplined in his rushing attempts. There’s still room in terms of handling pressure, but he did a nice job of not getting called on too many negative plays against Cincinnati.
In a year where there seems to be a lot of young quarterbacks playing recklessly or carelessly, Daniels was able to put together an efficient, aggressive game that showed the Commanders might have finally found their man after years of floundering since Kirk Cousins left for Minnesota. Beating up on a terrible defense is exactly what a player drafted in the spot where Daniels was should be doing.
If Daniels can repeat that performance a couple more times this season, he’ll become the Offensive Rookie of the Year, which would make a certain writer of this column look very foolish considering he may or may not have said the Commanders would end up with the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.
The Jaguars were just pathetic on Monday night.
There’s nothing worse than watching a team that just doesn’t have a pulse. The Jaguars put up a pitiful effort against the Bills, and were blown out 47-10 on Monday Night Football in a game that somehow didn’t even feel as close as the score indicated. It was never a game, as Jacksonville’s offense faltered once again and the defense allowed five straight touchdown drives to start the game.
This continues the extreme downward trend the Jaguars have been on since the end of last season. They were 8-3 after Week 12 and have won just one game since, against Bryce Young and the Panthers. For a team whose owner claimed to have the best roster in franchise history, this season has been an absolute disaster up to this point. There’s no reason for this collection of players to be crushed to this point by any team in the league, but especially not when they’re already 0-2 and desperate for a win.
This team is performing shape Below the expectations they set for themselves and what outside media members suggested was possible. With an 0-3 record and coming off a 37-point loss, it seems like this Jaguars team has hit rock bottom and it’s hard to determine exactly who to blame for their failures, so everyone should get their fair share.
Trevor Lawrence simply hasn’t been good enough this season. He’s too talented to have trouble topping 200 yards passing in every game. The offense isn’t built in a way that can overcome his inconsistencies, which have occurred far too often this season. It’s too early to write him off for the rest of his career, but that needs to change quickly.
It will be tough, though, as long as head coach Doug Pederson and offensive coordinator Press Taylor fail to find any sort of rhythm as play-callers and orchestrators of the offense. At some point, they will have to accept some of the blame for how disorganized the offense is instead of trying to point the finger at the quarterback.
Jacksonville’s defense is probably better than what it showed on Monday, but the Jaguars are going to have to adjust their style of play as they deal with the absence of cornerback Tyson Campbell due to injury. They don’t really have the resources to play man coverage right now, which was supposed to be their bread and butter throughout the season.
It’s all bad for the Jaguars, but what’s most worrying is how desperate and lifeless they looked on the field. Something needs to change here quickly, and it probably starts with the head coach, who can’t seem to produce an inspired performance from his team.
The Raiders’ bet on the QB is already stressing their season
No one is really surprised that the Raiders are here, right? Well, maybe we’re surprised that a loss to the Raiders Panthers It’s the moment that prompted the team to introspect, but choosing to start the season with a quarterback competition featuring Aidan O’Connell and Gardner Minshew has produced what most people expected: not much.
Head coach Antonio Pierce was disheartened after the preseason, and three weeks into this experiment, it appears he was upset for good reason. Neither Minshew nor O’Connell have the muscle to get the Raiders to have the season they’d like to have, something most people already knew.
Those concerns were heightened when they took a 36-22 beating at the hands of Carolina, which had been trailing until then. Minshew was ultimately pulled from the game in favor of O’Connell, but it appears Minshew will remain the starter for now while Pierce mulls over the “business decisions” he needs to make to improve this team in the near future.
What this game really showed is that the Raiders just aren’t good enough at quarterback to withstand inconsistent and bad games from that position. Thirty-six points for the Carolina Panthers! Andy Dalton is a clear upgrade over Bryce Young, but this Carolina team isn’t exactly the best on the field. That game suggests that the defense has a lot of room for improvement, which is a tough fact to accept when they already have star players like Christian Wilkins.
The hardest thing to accept is that there is no one coming to save the Raiders in their quest for better quarterback play. This is it. It’s not good enough. Everyone knows it, the head coach keeps saying it and that’s all anyone can do. Unless they decide to make a play for Russell Wilson, it’s going to be another long offensive season in Las Vegas.