FIRST TAKE | Stephen A. gets brutally honest on Jokic after Nuggets hint at possible trade
what’s happening welcome to NFL Live phil Murphy here we’re running a little 12 personnel today adam Sher in studio lewis Riddick and Booger McFarland also with us for the hour year 2 QBS in the spotlight sophomore slump avoidance is the hope in DC and Denver in Chicago looking for more of a take two with number one overall pick Caleb Williams under new head coach Ben Johnson chicago use the word accountability it’s like that for every position but certainly that position you got to be able to tell them when it’s good and when it’s not good enough um in front of their peers and then what we spent a lot of time together one-on-one as well i I thought that was some of the best things that uh that I did when I became coordinator was the the quarterback and the play caller need to see the play exactly the same and so you don’t develop that trust unless you spend a lot of time together so Adam year one with Williams Chicago ranked last in yards per play they make changes on the staff year two what have they done to get the most out of their QB well Phil you heard Ben Johnson the new Bears head coach right there talk about all the time that he’s spent with Caleb Williams this off seasonason trying to marry their minds together to think alike and every single thing the Bears have done this off season seems designed to bring the best out of Caleb Williams they hire Ben Johnson first and foremost and surround him with an assistant coaching staff to elevate Caleb Williams they then go out and trade for three different offensive linemen to go fortify a leaky offensive front to protect Caleb Williams and then they use two top draft picks on a tight end from Michigan Coloulston Lovelin and a wide receiver from Missouri and Luther Burton to give Caleb Williams even more weapons so he’s got the coaches he’s got the line he’s got the weapons they are doing everything they can to make sure that he fulfills his potential yeah Shifter you’re right they’re doing everything they can the one thing they can’t do for him though is go out and put in the work and then when it comes to game day he’s got to perform you’re right new new head coach new coordinator new quarterback coach new receivers new offensive line they’ve given him the full NFL makeover when it comes to a quarterback he has everything that any quarterback could want now you got to go out and you got to get it done and you got to do it on Sundays we can talk about mini camp and OTAAS all we want to football is the ultimate show me game and the only time that he can show us is once we get in the preseason and then once we get into the regular season it’s up to Caleb Williams with everything that’s gone on in the organization with everything that’s happened with the book from Seth Wickers Sham with all the quotes that have come out he’s going to have to build himself up to make sure that come September when he steps on that field for the first time that’ll be the first time Lewis that he can show us that he’s actually bought in and he’s matured as an NFL quarterback and he can go out and get it done yeah that’ll be the first time he can show us that you know really what he has done is he has developed a timing and rhythm with Ben Johnson and with this offense to where it just seems much more fluid for him and he has answers and I think a lot of that comes down to really them being able to give him digestible information information that he can use in real time and the guy you see on your screen right there running ahead of him JT Barrett the quarterback coach is going to play a huge role in that because he’s kind of the go-between he’s kind of the guy who can really go to Ben Johnson on behalf of Caleb Williams because he’s going to spend maybe even more time with him than than Ben Johnson does and tell him “Hey look these are the things that Caleb is feeling good about these are the things that Caleb isn’t so sure about.” And that happens in practice it happens in games it happens in meeting rooms and I think having that relationship will allow Caleb to really hit the ground running as fast as possible i mean it’s a whole new offense for him so there’s going to be some growing pains but I think those two guys together Ben Johnson and JT Barrett have to work in tandem to make sure that Caleb’s learning curve isn’t so steep and it’s not a terribly high bar year-over-year the Bears last season 17 points per game fourth fewest in the NFL and it got worse as the year went on they ranked dead last in scoring after week eight you juxtapose that with somebody else entering year two last year’s offensive rookie of the year Jaden Daniels who as a rookie showed he can compete with the best look at this 75 total QBR against teams that made the playoffs that’s that’s the highest of any rookie since that metric was introduced in 2006 daniels will have to carry that into this season the Commanders have the eighth hardest strength of schedule according to ESPN analytics and that rookie season was after Washington had the greatest roster turnover year over year in the NFL 2023 to 2024 adam they go to an NFC title game for the first time since 1991 similar question with that we asked for Chicago what have the commander done about building on last season
and a similar answer to what the Bears have done in Chicago with Caleb Williams because this is the advantage that these teams with great young rookie quarterbacks have they’re on rookie contracts so you can go out and spend money that other teams can’t the Commanders can go out and trade for Debo Samuel and afford his $20 million price tag without any issues they can go out and trade for Laramie Tonsel at left tackle without any issues about affording a new deal talking to him about reworking his contract the commanders know that there’s a window we saw them at the trade deadline last year when Jaden Daniels played as well as he did go out and trade for Marshon Latimore because he has sped up the timeline and the expectations for this franchise so they have been able to be aggressive and go out and surround him with as much talent as they can no matter the price yeah and really what Adam what you’re talking about is they’re trying to make sure that he doesn’t have any kind of regression that doesn’t take any kind of step back and that’s what everyone wants to talk about right when you have a rookie who comes in the league and takes it by storm the way he did people are going “Well they have film on him now so he’s going to automatically regress.” And I just don’t see it that way and I think there’s three keys to that one obviously you got to do everything you can to keep the roster healthy around him and not have things to start breaking down and people not available for him you do that you’re well on your way impactful additions i mean you talked about it Adam having a guy like Debo Samuel Laramie Tonsel in the fold now those are huge huge additions the drafting of Josh Connelly from Oregon this offensive line should be real solid they should be much more physical up front the running game and not just Jaden Daniels as far as the running game is concerned should be much more impactful this year and take some pressure off of him and then you know the continuity of the coaching staff i mean that’s just huge as well cliff Kingsbury coming back now it isn’t about you know Cliff going on and getting the head coaching job jaden has to learn a whole new language kind of like what Caleb Williams has to do so a lot of things are stacking up and adding up to Jaden being able to hopefully take it to a whole another level cuz I’ll tell you what he is the last person I’m worried about in this whole thing he’ll do his part you just want to make sure everyone around him does their part and it’s off to the races yeah no doubt about it and and in in the NFL and in football in general there’s an old saying that you make your biggest jump from year one to year two as far as the speed of the game the game slows down as far as your ability to know what to expect how to expect it when to expect it and we’re talking about him after his rookie year think about that guys a 71 total QBR last year as a rookie so the sky is the ceiling this year we’re expecting big things and I think his ability to play so calm and so patient and so poised last year is going to be taken to another level and I think that’s the thing that has everyone in Washington excited you juxtapose that to what’s going on in Pittsburgh where they have no idea who their quarterback is and everything is in disarray everything in Washington is in place and now the enthusiasm and the excitement is starting to build there because they know as long as he stays healthy and everybody around him does their part he makes that next jump we’re not just talking about a team that can get into the playoffs you’re talking about a team that could have one of the elite quarterbacks in the National Football League and when you have one of those guys that gives you an opportunity to win a championship that’s the difference when you have a quarterback that can do what he did as a rookie and now the game actually slows down his second year i’m excited to watch him because I know how it was for me my rookie year to my second
FIRST TAKE | Stephen A. gets brutally honest on Jokic after Nuggets hint at possible trade
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