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Caleb Williams best QB in preseason, per 1 advanced metric originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
Caleb Williams passed the eye test when he made his Bears preseason debut against the Bills on Saturday. Turns out he’s passed the analytics test, too.
According to Warren Sharp, an analyst who runs a site fueled by his custom predictive metrics, Williams has been the most efficient quarterback in the preseason, heading into Sunday’s slate of games.
Williams completed just 4-7 passes for 95 yards on Saturday, but looked better than his stat line would suggest– especially considering two of his incompletions were dropped by his pass catchers. Williams made several impressive throws on naked bootlegs to all areas of the field. The most impressive of the bunch was a 26-yard laser to Cole Kmet right along the sideline.
Williams also got to show off his advanced play recognition and processing. It’s always unknown how quickly a QB will be able to learn and adjust to the numerous disguises NFL defenses throw at young players, and he thrived in one of his first tests.
On a 3rd-and-9 play, the Bills initially showed Williams a single-high safety look, but right before he snapped the ball, the second safety rushed back into coverage. Williams quickly diagnosed that the Bills were truly running a two deep safety, man coverage defense, per Jim Miller on the broadcast. Once Williams saw all the defenders sticking to the skill players, he knew he had open lanes in front of him, took off and picked up the first down by himself.
Heady stuff.
In all, Williams played 20 snaps against the Bills. Previously, head coach Matt Eberflus said that he’d like the rookie QB to play somewhere between 45-65 snaps over the course of the preseason, and Williams didn’t play at all in the Hall of Fame game, so expect Williams to make at least one more appearance before Week 1.
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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/caleb-williams-best-qb-preseason-191014569.html
Author : NBC Sports Chicago
Publish date : 2024-08-11 19:10:14
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