Bears camp superlatives: Caleb Williams, Montez Sweat, Austin Booker stand out (2024)

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LAKE FOREST, Ill. — The Chicago Bears’ acquisitions of pass rusher Darrell Taylor and defensive tackle Chris Williams will mean that two players who were in training camp at Halas Hall won’t make the team’s initial 53-man roster.

It’s one of the harshest realities of the NFL.

Some players are only good enough to compete in camp, while the spots they’re fighting and sweating for are filled by newcomers not long before the season begins. It happens across the league as general managers make trades and scour the waiver wire.

Taylor will be expected to improve the Bears’ pass rush from the moment he takes the field.

“They’re getting a very explosive player,” Taylor said. “A player that’s gonna be relentless. A player that’s very passionate about the game of football. You’re gonna see that every day in practice. You’re gonna see that obviously on the field.”

That will come later this week.

But we still saw plenty on the field in practice throughout the Bears’ extended training camp this summer. Everything now starts and ends with rookie quarterback Caleb Williams, but there was plenty in between to cover. Here are our annual training camp superlatives.

Caleb Williams confidence meter (1-10)

Kevin Fishbain: 8 for this season, 9 for the long term. I think Bears fans can feel pretty good that they finally have their quarterback, but you can have a pretty good quarterback and not necessarily have a ton of team success. Still, what we saw from Williams in camp confirmed his readiness, his playmaking abilities and that this season should, at minimum, be entertaining. The team might still be 9-8, and he might not put up C.J. Stroud numbers, but it sure seems like he’s the guy.

Adam Jahns: So that’s an 8 1/2 for you then, Fish? You can put me down for the 9. It starts with the Bears’ process for Williams. They didn’t waste everyone’s time in camp by sticking him behind an older quarterback. He was the focus from Day 1.

There are also the players around Williams. The Bears didn’t waste years saying they were going to build around Williams. Instead, they did it immediately. DJ Moore wasn’t enough, for example. The Bears wanted more in wide receivers Keenan Allen and Rome Odunze.

But the most encouraging part of training camp was that the Bears defense didn’t shake Williams’ confidence. Instead, everyone at Halas Hall — players, coaches, the front office and so on — started to believe more in him.

Most impressive player (offense)

Fishbain: Running back D’Andre Swift. It’s not often a running back stands out in training camp, but from what we could glean, Swift has quickness, burst and slipperiness that the offense needs. What really stood out was his ability to run routes and make plays catching the football.

Jahns: Wide receiver Keenan Allen. At 32, Allen is one of the oldest players on the Bears’ roster. But he showed in camp that he can still be one of the best. He developed a chemistry with Williams and stood out during the joint practice against the Cincinnati Bengals. His route running made him a matchup problem throughout camp, helping Williams and the Bears’ young secondary improve.

Most impressive player (defense)

Fishbain: Defensive end Montez Sweat. I got some 2019 Khalil Mack vibes at times watching Sweat chase down Williams during practice. Maybe he’s not exactly 2019 Mack, who routinely would wreck the offense’s plans, but Sweat did what you’d want someone of his caliber to do in training camp — consistently get into the backfield.

Jahns: Cornerback Jaylon Johnson. “Hard Knocks” rightfully featured Johnson early on, including his matchups against Allen. He was a must-watch player throughout camp. How often do you say that about cornerback? All of the Bears receivers had problems with him. He’s one of the Bears players — and he sounds motivated to build off his 2023 campaign.

Standout rookie (non-Caleb category)

Fishbain: Wide receiver Rome Odunze. It was easy to forget about the other top-10 pick, but he was really fun to watch in person. What Tyrique Stevenson said at the start of camp stuck with me: “He’s sneaky fast. Like off the line, you might night realize he’s closing the cushion as fast, but once he’s on you, he’s on you. Just the fact that he’s able to run the wheel routes, he’s able to break down and run the digs, or if you let him he’ll run right by you.”

Jahns: Defensive end Austin Booker. Booker’s development didn’t stop the Bears from trading for Darrell Taylor. But coach Matt Eberflus often says that you can never have enough pass rushers. Booker seemingly improved every day in camp. He already has several moves in his arsenal. My favorite is his spin. You saw it in the preseason. The Bears might have found a late-round gem.

.@austinbookerr gets ANOTHER sack 😤

📺: FOX pic.twitter.com/nKUHcJ0Aaw

— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) August 10, 2024

Undrafted free agent who caught our eye

Fishbain: Cornerback Reddy Steward. Even before the two-interception performance in Kansas City, Steward made some plays in training camp. Early on, when Kyler Gordon was hurt, he even got a few reps with the starting defense. At that position, if you can make plays on the ball, it makes a huge difference, and Steward did it at Troy and showed he could at this level, too.

Jahns: Running back Ian Wheeler. If Steward is 1A, then Wheeler is 1B. His speed at the second level impressed at Halas Hall and then later in Buffalo against the Bills. Wheeler, though, suffered a torn ACL against the Chiefs in the Bears’ preseason finale. It’s an awful way to end a good camp and preseason.

Most concerning injury

Fishbain: Despite stretches with several defensive players sidelined, the Bears came out of camp pretty healthy, but I’ll say rookie offensive tackle Kiran Amegadjie. Maybe we’ll look back at this as just a blip if he develops into a starter, and this always figured to be a redshirt year, but for the team’s third-round pick — at a critical position — to not be able to put pads on until late August was not ideal.

Jahns: It’s center/guard Ryan Bates going from day to day to week to week with whatever’s ailing him. The lack of depth last season on the interior bothered general manager Ryan Poles but Bates’ positional versatility changed that. He strengthened the interior of the offensive line even as a reserve. Bates was in competition at center with Coleman Shelton and later the starter at right guard with Nate Davis sidelined.

Best camp competition

Fishbain: Nate Davis vs. … Nate Davis? It was a strong start to camp for Davis, who came in as the most scrutinized player on the team. But an injury, then a setback, brought back all the skepticism. However, it seems like he has put it together at the right time, stringing together consecutive practices (and a game) ahead of Week 1. It’s possible that had Bates stayed healthy, he would’ve kept the starting right guard spot, but for now, Davis will get a chance to prove it.

Jahns: Jaylon Johnson vs. any of the Bears’ top receivers. “Hard Knocks” covered Johnson’s battles with Allen. But there were some with Moore and Odunze, too. They were fun to watch. Next year, I’d like my answer to be right tackle Darnell Wright vs. defensive end Montez Sweat. Their matchup was too one-sided at times in camp with Sweat seemingly dominating for days. Wright, though, gradually improved throughout camp.

Lingering question (offense)

Fishbain: Can the offensive line hold up? That’s both in games and throughout the season. Bates’ injury is looming, and we still don’t know what to really expect from Davis. It’s encouraging how he finished camp, but what can he do in a full season? Can Teven Jenkins stay healthy? Is Shelton ready to be the guy at center? This group’s performance is so important for Williams.

Jahns: How long will it take to see Williams’ breakout game? This question doesn’t fit the Bears’ messaging. They’re not placing expectations on Williams like this. They’re not only trusting the process but respecting it. But outside of Halas Hall, everyone — from lifelong season ticket holders to Bears fans across the globe to talking heads locally and nationally and then some — will be waiting for the Caleb Williams fireworks show to start.

Lingering question (defense)

Fishbain: What’s this group’s ceiling? After the historic 2018 campaign for the Bears defense, I remember surveying the roster and realizing they had a bunch of young players who still had more to accomplish. Obviously, the 2019 group wasn’t nearly as effective. This is a different situation, of course. The overall unit is younger and should keep ascending. Players like Gordon, Stevenson, Jaquan Brisker and Gervon Dexter have ceilings they haven’t reached. We could even say the same about Sweat, Tremaine Edmunds and T.J. Edwards. There’s a lot of potential for this unit.

Jahns: How much will the Bears regret failing to trade for pass rusher Matthew Judon? In the short term, that answer might be “a lot.” Judon is simply better than Taylor. But Poles always keeps the long term in mind. Taylor is younger, and if Judon wasn’t willing to sign a new deal, then it made sense to move on. Taylor is excited about playing in the Bears defense. It could be a better fit for him. But I’d still expect pass rusher to be atop the Bears’ draft needs in 2025.

Favorite quote

Fishbain: “I was too busy grinding my absolute face off in the offseason. … June 19. Shout-out to one of my best friends. Derek Gallagher. One-mile burpee broad jump. Hour and seven minutes. Let’s go. Burpee. Broad jump. Burpee. Broad jump. One mile. … The mental edge it gives me in finding out what I can endure versus what the next man can endure in a sense gives me a little mental edge when I show up to things like this and people start complaining about our schedule. I can sort of have somewhere in the back of my head that I have done things far worse than this, that I can handle really anything that’s thrown at me and be able to keep the main thing the main thing and let it flow off the shoulders and just react to what happens.” — quarterback Tyson Bagent on his offseason.

Jahns: “We’ve been practicing the slide with the Slip N Slide. I had a plan in my mind of what they were going to do defensive-wise. They dropped out of it. They went two-man (coverage). First, I think Damar (Hamlin) was on the left side. I thought he was going to rotate and the right safety was going to rotate down. He bluffed it and got over the top of the vertical, I believe to Rome (Odunze). Then, after that, I got down to my (running) back. My back was covered. I saw the seas part. I realized it was two-man and I took off.” — Caleb Williams discussing what he saw from the Bills defense before his 13-yard scramble in his preseason debut, which was an example of his processing.

(Top photo: Gregory Fisher / USA Today)