Jim Miller Says Caleb Williams, WRs Could Dazzle Bears Fans This Season

Caleb Williams' poise you're now watching the Danny Mack podcast on the BET Rivers network and welcome back to the Danny Mack podcast bet Rivers network glad you're with me today so is Jim Miller Mr Bears preseason football again this year with Adam amine and it's good to have you on board Jim it was a successful preseason you're a guy who wants to see players play did you get enough of Caleb Williams in those preseason games yeah I I think so I think he got enough of the of the snaps 40 two snaps he got in the cross scrimmage against the Cincinnati Bengal he's gotten pretty much every rep with the first team since he's walked in the Chicago Bears fa facility so yeah I feel pretty good I feel I just I feel good where he's at mentally like his just his demeanor it just tells you he's a confident player his teammates are confident in him so should be an exciting year he does carry himself with a lot of poise and and I think enough of and Fu attitude to let stuff just run off of him like water off a duck's back as they say because sooner or later hell will come to breakfast he's going to have bad games and he's going to take criticism he' never taken before what about his teammates around him what did you like and what concerns you before they get to the Titans well I I think for for him I I think his teammates has really ingratiated themselves to him you know when you hear veterans like Montes sweat and the glowing remarks that he said about how Caleb like much like you mentioned how he conducts himself how he carries himself and the veterans are impressed and they're commenting on it that he's a he's a guy that you can see that people want to follow he can really take over the quote unquote room and that's you know true of a huddle too that I think he's got a good leadership skills and and I think the veterans like a Keenan Allen like a DJ Moore like montz SWAT and even Jaylen Johnson who had doubts remember when they drafted him and he said don't be bringing that drama of Hollywood in here and he's been anything but even Jaylen Johnson is now bought in and believes in this guy as a leader yeah JJ's backed off on that one Jaylon Johnson's potential um man as good as he is he gets under my skin I wish Jaylen Johnson since you took it there I'll stay with it or I'll forget it his bitching about not being on the top 100 players list you know dude start catching theall when it's thrown to you and here's an idea too when you do catch it and take it to the house celebrate with your teammates instead of mugging for the cameras enjoy those guys who helped put pressure on the quarterback he he gets on my nerves and I hope he stops with some of that nonsense but I don't suspect he will well hey he got obviously one of the top Corner contracts in the league um and it was so kind of cool like I interviewed him before last season at training camp and he just said Point Blank he goes I've got to get more interceptions for all the things that you said he goes I've had my hands on a lot of flip balls but I've got to finish and then here last year he gets four interceptions and that's his career high and hopefully that will continue for him but he is one of the top pointers in the league yeah who can forget that uh that pick against the Raiders when Aiden o Connell threw it I think it was in the vicinity of jacobe Meyers but I mean what a gift and then that's not the one took into the end zone in that game but he still managed to run down to the end zone and mug again and do the show me the money mechanic and he got it all right I've bitched enough old man yells at Cloud I'm entitled I turned 63 this week Jim so I can do that let's get back to Bears QB depth chart quarterbacks because that's what everybody is stirring about and I never thought I would arrive at this and I admit it's cool-aid that comes from preseason football games and video from Camp I like all four guys they've got at quarterback I I was glad all four of them didn't wind up somewhere else yesterday I was worried maybe they' part with ripping or even even the Reed kid who looks very poised what what can we take out of their successes that's meaningful yeah I think uh well yeah I think the the coach has a good background I think from Shane Waldren and one of his Communications with other coaches around the league about you know the young quarterbacks the Bears have Tyson Bean is an interesting guy you know he's somewhat you know here everybody's talking about this phenomenon of Brock pie and Tyson beun has kind of had a similar path as pry just not the opportunities that prie has had but when you go in there as a rookie and you go two and two and he was sacked only one every 19 dropbacks he's a very fast processor and that's what I talked to Luke gsy about and I noticed in that last preseason or the preseason game what was that Cincy where he threw the two inter or two touchdowns to Pettis he was even faster and it's because he his he was even faster in his processing because he's played a lot of football just like pie I think pie had like 49 starts at Iowa State and if you go look at uh Tyson beun at Shepard I think he had like 51 starts I mean this guy's alltime leader in touchdowns of 159 touchdowns he's thrown so he has played a lot of football it's important to him and he is serious as a heart attack If I Were A Team around the the league a guy like Tyson beun is is going to be ascending very very quickly with you with the development you see he where he's at right now I hope you're right and I think you probably will be I I like a lot about the kid and there was a time guy I grew up watching Kenny Anderson for a long time was the guy from August Ana and then that stopped and he just became a great quarterback like Phil Sims when you were growing up yeah uh you know he was Morehead State what the hell is that but once you have that level of success doesn't doesn't that small College tag immediately leave you oh yeah it does it it doesn't matter once you get to the NFL and everybody realizes you can play all that stuff goes waste think of Steve McNair of velorn State you know here you bring up Kenny Anderson Kenny Anderson should be in the Hall of Fame I think still to date he's got the the best yards per completion uh per attempt of any quarterback he's like 9.9 it's something ridiculous where he's at but yeah I think uh you know none of that matters there's there's a lot of guys that have that have come out of of small schools that have done well I mean think of even Aaron roggers I mean he went to a community college prior to when he transferred up so so and here you know think of that draft he went 24 everybody thought he was going to go ahead of Alex Smith and that didn't happen Alex went number one and Aaron dropped to 24 so it's crazy the buzz in Chicago is not just about quarterback play most specifically Caleb Williams but the Bears WRs: DJ Moore, Rome Odunze, Keenan Allen receivers and they looked good in the preseason as well what should we expect from this group what's too much of an expectation for this Trio uh I would think if you two out of three should go over a thousand thousand yards receiving all three in likelihood have that potential where they could have 3,000 yard receivers they could have over a thousand yard running back and and DeAndre Swift and what he does out of the back field as well catching the ball and Cole KT should be right at 800 yards I mean this has the ability to be a very potent offense this could be the best Trio starting Trio of white outs in the NFL probably last year you would have said it was T Higgins Jamar Chase and and Tyler Boyd I like the trio up in Seattle that's not bad with the Jackson Smith and jiga uh Tyler uh and then of course DK metf that's a pretty good Trio but this Trio in Chicago may be the best in the league man I never I never thought we'd arrive at that without with a trio of quarterbacks who can zip it to him but do they keep those quarterbacks vertical injuries to Ryan Bates expected to be the starting center it's not going to happen for him the former Bill and you can't count on Nate Davis they've been learning that each each week what's uh what's Ryan poles gonna do before this thing shakes out against Tennessee I have a feeling he's not going to sit on his hands during what should be an active period period in the next couple of weeks yeah definitely if you can upgrade of course you you upgrade but I think that battle's been going on for quite some time I don't know why they just put uh Coleman Shelton at Center and just put Bates at Right Guard because Davis at this point for my liking he hasn't been in there enough he missed last year at the beginning of the year missed basically all through otaa training camp and the same thing has kind of happened this year so I I wouldn't feel too comfortable I'd rather just put Ryan Bates they're a player they know well he was with the Bears he left to go to the bills now he's back they liked him that much if you like him that much then just put him at Right Guard the the cuts on Tuesday left them with 10 offensive linemen still on the roster and then of course there's the practice squad opportunities is 10 too many uh no I don't think 10's too many you know they're not they're not a finished product by any means you know you saw they work that trade who was that Cleveland for the D tackle I think they picked up Williams and they've addressed the areas that they need to address they made the trade to get uh darl Taylor they needed another person who could pass rush and so they're went out and did the best they could they missed out on judon they did the next best thing which was Taylor so whether they talked to the Jets about Hassan reic I doubt there's any movement there so they've done what they've needed to do to to short up but yet the roster is still going to churn until week three why because normally in week two you don't sign veterans in week one because then you got to guarantee their contract so you got to wait till week two then you sign them then you it's on a weekly basis yeah and then of course the Bears can save a few dollars they like to do that that's maybe why they fly a guy like Dan Quin to Chicago in coach when they uh interviewed him a few years ago for the job Matt Eber flu Scott Eber flu Matt Eberflus' evolution seems to be a different guy and I don't know if the new PR staff has been talking to him but even his presentation the hip hairo and uh just kind of a bizarre transformation we've seen and I don't think hard KNX did him any favors but I wish I could feel more comfortable about the head man convince me he's gonna be okay if you feel that way yeah I I do what I what I respect and love about Matt eberl and what he's done is the team plays hard I think when you you see a team that's probably not as talented as some of the opponents they're going against you can tell by their effort their toughness their just their wherewithal and I think under Matt Eber flu guys have done that there's there's a lot of times where and you've been in Seasons too Danny Mack where guys are pulling up their U-Haul the last month before the end of the year and they've already checked out and I don't think the players of the Bears have checked out on Matty rlus they play with great effort Hustle in toughness which tells you that they're responding to to his message they did make a bit of a comeback in the second half of last season uh I don't know if it's unfair to qualify their progress though it's not inaccurate but is it unfair to say hey yeah great you beat Taylor hinei in Atlanta you beat Josh dos who didn't have Justin Jefferson in the Vikings game the only guy they beat who was worth to damn was Jared gof yeah no I don't disagree with that but I do think because the offense has was compromising the team let's just put it that way because the defense did show great Improvement offense made somewhat of a Improvement as the year went along but they just couldn't score points you know there's probably three games in there that they just absolutely blew the one that just blows my mind is the one you just mentioned the Minnesota game and the Denver game the Denver game that should have been a win all day long and twice on Sunday with how the Bears blew that game specifically at one position the quarterback spot yes yes so let's see if they can correct that yeah a former college teammate too I believe was the one who took it away from Justin Fields Jonathan Cooper I think oh what a man all of these nightmares but they're all going to go away so quickly when Caleb and company take over I don't Could Williams throw for 4,000 yards? think it's too much to ask of Williams to if he stays healthy pass for more than 4,000 yards and people are suggesting a come on man let him grow into it CJ strout last year played 15 games and cleared 4,000 and Jordan love in his first year is the starter through 32 freaking touchdown passes yeah the bar should be high because this kid came out with hell of a lot more uh Pub and expectation than any of these guys yeah I don't disagree with that this this this young man he's been on the big stage right he's the Heisman Trophy winner he's been at Big Time pro programs you know when he was with Lincoln Riley even before he moved to USC with with Lincoln this guy has been well coached and he's a pretty seasoned guy for being a a rookie and how he's going to handle himself but I think with what's around him and what his background is in football and how he's been coached and how he learns and what I've seen four 4,000 is realistic for him you would hope like like you said 3500 minimum 25 26 touchdowns maybe if you can get 15 16 interceptions get be in that two to one range but he's probably with what's around him he should go over 4,000 easily they don't play a divisional game Jim until I think their 10th of the season is that a good thing yeah I do because I think it'll allow the defense kind of has to carry the offense for a little bit but probably right around week nine with a rookie quarterback and again what's around him the offense should come to life and if the offense comes to life and guys are healthy and now you're going into your division games we always say as a player win your division that's all you care about that's your best path to the playoff and that's where they should be clicking NFL storylines uh really hitting their stride offensively I think right around that time this coming February will be the 59th edition of the Super Bowl the Detroit Lions never have been to one do they change that this year do you think the lions are going to win the NFC uh I think they've got a great shot I mean if you were just to go through the NFC quarterbacks Jared G probably say him and Matthew Stafford you know are probably the two Headliners I mean he has played some really good football especially at Ford Field their home record with Jared GF and his numbers that's where you gota kind of Sting the Lions but yeah they they had the mentality from their coach that uh they could go the distance they believe in themselves yeah and uh I I think they have another early date in fact is it opening week where they have the Rams um which was a great playoff game there were a bunch of them last year that might have been the best of the bunch especially with the two former quarterbacks playing each other and uh yeah it was it was a great game and I'm expecting a lot from the Lions um I don't think the Vikings are viable in the north without JJ McCarthy and even with him I don't know if they had enough but uh three teams should be playoff teams this year is that too many to expect in one division yeah I would think so because I I think if you just look at Minnesota it it looked like JJ McCarthy was going to take over Sam darnold to be the starter okay because we all know the history of Sam darnold you know and he's got a great opportunity here I mean he may be the baker Mayfield of the NFL if he performs how everybody thinks he can perform again got drafted High New York Jets not a lot around him he set his bumps along the way and now here he is and gets this this opportunity but the reason why I say it looked like JJ McCarthy was going to or take him because Sam darnold in his history has what turned over the football you know I know coaches that have coached him they're like Jim I want him to marry my daughter he's a great guy he's a just everybody on the team loves the guy he's a good team guy but it's the turnovers at Key moments in games that have really stunted his career and so you know let's see if he can shed that perception or that reality because this is a great opportunity for him but you just nothing in his history suggests he can get away from that another six or seven minutes with former Bears quarterback Jim Miller you can catch him with Pat Kerwin on moving the chains weekday afternoons on SiriusXM channel 88 I've got to renew my subscription time is running out on me I'm going to be on the boat on some some weekday here coming up the book is almost done and uh time to get out and listen to this show a little more regularly would you have wanted a hard knock crew around when you were a player watching your every move recording your every practice no I wouldn't you know it's it's weird because I because I've done I don't know going on 20 years of training camp tours now I've seen you know Ben at camps where hard KN is there you know and I've been caught on camera and you know been on the the show as well and you can see it a lot some players like some teams the guys are playing to the camera and a lot of that stuff doesn't really get shown to the viewers but players are you know are playing to the camera then other guys just don't even want to be around it they just want to go about their business they don't want the distraction which is kind of the camp that that I I'm in because some of it's pretty fraudulent because a lot of it like I said guys are playing to the camera and it's not really real reality did you watch all four I think last night was the fourth and we're recording this on Wednesday the 28th have you seen all four yeah I I watched him and actually a buddy of mine we watched the last two episodes last night so yeah I've watched him look at that as soon as it's fresh you're you got to have some bears uh I just love to hear leave shriber describe football in August it lets me know that we're not that far away as you traveled around to training camps this year and talked to all of your NFL sources is there a team out there nobody's talking about right now who you think could go deep into the playoffs well Hu Houston is a legit team we're talking about Houston yeah I I've circled them already I think they're going to the Superbowl yeah they I think they've got a great shot they've got good depth uh what you need in the back end of your roster and of course what factors in is how well that quarterback has played I mean that is an anomaly for how well CJ Stout has played last year you know and if he even remotely repeats that they've got a shot with their roster and how they're built they're good in a lot of areas Baltimore of course always looks good but people are people are not talking a lot about the Pittsburgh Steelers they're saying that offense is going to be struggling under Russell Wilson the Steelers will be right in it at the end in that AFC North I can guarantee you that if you're with the Steelers um I'm sorry I'm blanking on their offensive coordinator was with ATL Arthur Smith um do you find find a way to get Justin Fields the football even when Russell Russell Wilson is playing quarterback can you play him on occasion in the slot to get him in space yeah it was when I played there we had Cordell Stewart he we created the slash rle for him so yeah I think if people are legitimate about when they say oh we want to get our best 11 players on the field Justin is one of your best players and you can come up with a multiple packages to get him involved you know him rushing for over a thousand yards that's not a mirage Justin fields did do that and I would like to think Arthur Smith is going to incorporate him in a lot of ways they're much like the Bears and what you said think about their offense Justin this is his third offense in four years that he's had to learn and obviously Russell Wilson's the veteran he should get the offense up and running pretty quickly you start infusing Justin fields in there and then all their division games start week 11 and if they're healthy and that offense catches fire they're a dangerous team because their defense will be a top five defense I'm more than confident in saying they'll be probably one of the best scoring defenses in the NFL for how how much talent they have defensively you know I I think they've got a great coach too and I don't think anybody disagrees with that and he's the kind of guy who is strong willed enough to handle two quarterbacks not many of them can do that I don't suspect yeah I mean I call him the word Smith Mike Tomlin I mean that guy will pierce your heart as a player he will get your attention on what you need to do what's the what we need to focus on with the entire goal of winning and that's why he's never had a losing season and people can say well that's everybody says that that is hard to do in the NFL Super Bowl predictions what this guy has done he keep J I always I always enjoy talking football with you I wish we had a little bit more time but let me let me conclude it with this if you're plunking down today regardless of the odds let's say they're all even money we don't have to look at odds on conference favorites which two teams play in the Super Bowl well I think you gota you know it's probably still going to be between KC and Baltimore I would think on the AFC side battling to who advances and I would think at the NFC side I think it will be Detroit and San Francisco in that championship game again and we'll see if San Francisco can now Advance Jim good stuff thanks a bunch have a great last few days of the offseason and look forward to hearing you after I call SiriusXM as soon as we're done all right good to be with you Jim Miller from the 0113 and Three Bears serus XM afternoons with Pat Kerwin I want to thank Randy Merkin for getting us all of our guests whenever we do this uh Sam Michael is my executive producer Adam delivet runs the show at the BET Rivers podcast Network coming up in a future podcast very soon two things I'm very excited about and God these are only the things that Merkin has told me about Tim Brown the hall Famer one of my favorite college football players of all time guy I saw play a handful of times when he was in South Bend with the Irish he's going to join me and in October Cade mcnown 25 years after the Bears wasted the 12th pick in the 99 draft on Kade mcdown he's going to come out of hibernation and talk about the disappointment of his career the 3 and 12 record he had at is a starter 3 years and out looking forward to talking with Kate about his life with the Bears and much more after it including his friendship with Scott KH the actor AKA Tweeter from Varsity Blues Twitter drank beer cuz Tweeter drinks beer thanks for listening thanks for watching those of you on YouTube I'm Dan mcneel have a great weekend [Music]