Why Ben Johnson & Chicago Bears are making MISTAKE w/ Caleb Williams | THE HERD NFL w/ Colin Cowherd

Why Ben Johnson & Chicago Bears are making MISTAKE w/ Caleb Williams | THE HERD NFL w/ Colin Cowherd

And with that, oh, I’m interesting. Interested. Excuse me. And Matt Hasselback, 18 years in the NFL. I’m very interested today. And you are interesting, Colin. Well, you know, yeah, it’s supposed to be a little um Okay, first I’m going to start with I’m jealous because you, and I love this, took the train and went to a Nate Barazi. He’s great comedian in Boston last night. You just got back. I think he’s absolutely outrageously funny. So, I’m just going to say right now, I’m not only jealous of your pro career and uh but your comedic choices. So, congratulations. You’re a little roadw weary and I appreciate that. No, I’m good. I’m good. I’m But listen, you were at the Live Tour, so it’s not like you had a boring weekend. I mean, come on. Let’s Let’s not lie here. Okay. So, I said it’s okay if you don’t want to pay play Caleb Williams, but I do think it was a little strategic. Um, Burrow played, Mahomes played, Spencer Rattler played, everybody but Tom Brady played. Like the whole world played this weekend. And it was almost like he was saying, you know, he’s not quite there. I don’t need another week of heat from the Chicago media. He took a lot of snaps in practice. It felt a little strategic, did it not? Yeah, I I sort of agree. I mean, everything that Caleb Williams does because he was the first pick overall because they basically got rid of everyone around him last year, built the team around him this year, everything he does is under the microscope. So, yeah, I’m sure there is some of that protecting him. There’s also something with joint practices now where coaches don’t feel like they need to play their ones in the preseason game because they get those reps in a controlled environment where guys don’t take hits where the quarterback wears a different color jersey and you know you’re keeping your guy healthy and and I think that might be part of this also if there wasn’t a joint practice I think he would have played in the game. Okay. So, I I said this earlier about Jackson Dark. You and your generation got thrown to the Wolves. You didn’t have 10,000 snaps by the time you were 14. Jackson Dart is a three-year starter in the SEC with Lane Keifin. Has had private coaching, seven on seven. I don’t want to hear about, you know, we’re going to work him in. It’s like, you know what, Matt, they got a great left tackle, a number one receiver. I think Brian Dable is a pretty darn good offensive coach. I maybe you give Russell the first start. I This is not Anthony Richardson. 41 college starts in the SEC with Lane Keifin. Why would you not just figure out if the kid can play? Yeah, I hear what you’re saying and I’m actually just peeking at some of the ages of some of the rookie quarterbacks. I mean, just because a guy’s a rookie doesn’t mean he’s the youngest guy. Uh Bo Knicks was is 25 years old as an example. But no, I I did I did I grew up in the era of uh you know, you sit on the bench for a while. I mean, Tom Brady did that. Um Aaron Rogers did that. I know that was my experience as well. I think the New York Giants have been burned. And so they are really sticking to the plan. They’ve invested heavily in veteran quarterbacks, in leadership, in process driven guys who’ve been there, done it, made mistakes, had success, and Jameus Winston and Russell Wilson. So, I I think they’re going to be slow and and measured and and patient um with Jackson Dart, who they do like a lot, but I do but I don’t think he’s ready. And I do think the best plan is to start a guy like Russell Wilson and let Jackson watch. But here’s the here’s the danger. Don’t just have him sit there and watch. Train him and prepare him to play the way that Patrick Mahomes was trained and preparing to play when he was sitting back watching Alex Smith start uh during his rookie year at the Kansas City Chiefs. Um there’s a there’s activeness to the p passivity of being the backup if you do it right. So I watched every snap Shadur Sanders took and I know there’s a lot I don’t know. film study, galvanizing teammates, coachability, uh, pre- snap stuff. I I’ve always understood that’s 30, 35, 40% of quarterback. I don’t see that. But I do see how comfortable are are you frenetic? Are you comfortable? Are you confident? Do you move well? All the stuff that I’m allowed to see, I think Shadur’s college traits transferred to the NFL. I think he was accurate. I think he’s more I I’m tired of hearing he’s a pocket guy. He moves. I have highlights. He moves fine. I I I don’t know how he is off. I don’t know film, but I was impressed with him. Why should I not be? Yeah, I think there’s a lot of encouraging things there. I mean, on on the field, he’s a guy that looks like he belongs. Um I don’t think he’s going to be their starting quarterback this year. I think Joe Flackle will be their starting quarterback. And it’s just a weird situation because they’ve got four guys and someone’s got to go, you would think. Well, Kenny Pickicket’s missed so much time in training camp. He really hasn’t been around. And then uh the the young quarterback Gabriel, he’s you know, he’s been injured also. So, this is this is an opportunity for Shador. My big question is, will the Cleveland Browns have the courage to keep four quarterbacks? And courage is the word I’m using because it’s like no one else does that. It doesn’t make any sense. But, you know, Ray Rhodess, one of my old head coaches, used to say, “Hey, we’re gonna kill a mosquito with a sledgehammer at this position.” And it’s like, I you know, it’s not the best way to kill a mosquito. But I get the I get the point. We’re going to overdo it. And I think this is a quarterback that has this is a team that has gone without a quarterback for so long that they might just say, “Hey, listen. It’s that important of a position. We like what we have here, the traits that he’s showing. let’s hold on to him and develop him. Uh on the field, he doesn’t give me pause at all. He doesn’t worry me at all. Off the field and what he’s like in the locker room, that’s the part that I just don’t know. There are some red flags, but um it’s hard for me to sit here and judge that from where I’m sitting. But I but I just know that, you know, being the backup quarterback to someone like Joe Flacco, you’re probably not going to have a guy walking with you on your entrance getting off the bus this year. It’s going to be a different feeling from being the star quarterback in college to potentially, you know, the second, third, or maybe even fourth string quarterback for the Cleveland Browns. So, um, Burl played, uh, I don’t want Aaron Rogers playing behind backup offensive lineman at his age. I don’t I don’t want Kirk Cousins playing. We’ll get to Stafford in about three minutes, but I I just want to ask Burl played, Mahomes played. Did you want to when you were not at your last year, but I’m talking about maybe four years left to play. So you you don’t want to get hit, but and you know the game and you know the reads, but did you want to be out there in preseason? Yeah, absolutely. I wanted to play and like when Mike was the head coach, like we basically had this kind of agreement and he basically was like, “All right, you can play until you take a hit.” Like until you take an unnecessary hit or till you take a hit. You know, the the the tough thing for me as a as a starting quarterback, I would feel bad for my offensive linemen because they had to stay in the game as long as I was in the game. And so like, you know, I’m putting them at risk. Maybe I’m not at risk, but I’m putting them at risk, you know, and so like usually I think like after about a quarter, you’re feeling like, okay, it’s time to go. Now, the one thing that I did like and I thought was really good in terms of process is I liked, you know, coming in at halftime, getting used to that halftime break, and then coming back out and having a drive or right before the end of the first half, getting a chance to work on twominut with all your new hand signals with any players that are new players on your team. those things are really valuable that you don’t get to simulate in practice. Um, but sure, you want to compete, you want to be out there, and uh, usually you need the coaches to say, “No, no, no. Time for you to sit down. Uh, you don’t get to play anymore today.” So, Matt Stafford did not, he’s not even dressing for practice. And, um, as I’ve aged, I feel pretty good. Uh, my back isn’t great. I wake up, need to stretch. Um, Matt Stafford’s got a back injury. He’s taken a lot of hits, most of them in Detroit. Does that worry you a little? Well, uh, your back doesn’t surprise me first off. Okay. Sitting is the new smoking. You sit all day long, so your back probably feels like trash. Um, no, I am I am concerned about Matthew Stafford’s back. Uh, I had a bad back injury in 2008. Usually, you can tell how bad a quarterback’s back injury is by if the team sends him to California to see Dr. Bob Watkins. If they do that, you know it’s serious. Now, it’s a little harder here because he’s already in LA. But no, I’m concerned. I’m definitely concerned if you take the factors of his age and all those types of things. Listen, in ‘ 08, I hurt my back in a preseason game against Jared Allen and the Minnesota Vikings. It was just like this weird thing. It wasn’t that bad, but it never got better. It like never got better that entire year. And you know, the the closest thing I could equate it to is like you burn your mouth like on a hot piece of pizza or something and it just it doesn’t get better quick. And that’s kind of what the back injury typically is. There’s all different types of back injuries, but they just don’t seem to get better quick. And then even if they do get better, you’ve missed all this time of like heavy weight training or physicality that goes into your off season and you’re just not the version of yourself that you normally are. So, I’d be very concerned um if I was a Rams fan uh right now just because Stafford is valuable and it’s just uh not a great place to be. I’ve been there. Okay. So, um JJ McCarthy made one really good throw. It was a heater. And then on another throw, he badly overthrew an open receiver and it was a heater. And I’ve heard these comments, they’re trying to get him to do some off speed stuff. Everything I remember when Kaepernick was in that was the knock. Like everything’s a fast ball. Um, and I think to myself, I mean, he’s been playing since he was probably seven. Like, they’re teaching him how to play quarterback. I mean, I don’t know. I I look at that and I think I I you don’t hear very often we’re a first round quarterback. You’re trying to get, you know, trying to the tempo of the speed of the ball. I’m like, that’s I mean, Kevin Oonnell is probably a great teacher, but what do I what do I I watched him and I thought it’s fine, but like there is kind of one speed. What do I make of those comments? Well, he’s got good coaches and Kevin Okonnell and Josh Macau. Uh, we trust those guys. But to me, I would say you got to use the other clubs in your bag. It can’t be driver, 3wood, two iron, four four iron. Sometimes there’s a there’s a there’s a nine iron in there. There’s a there’s a sand wedge. I mean, uh, there’s there’s phrases in the quarterback room like KY, know your personnel. If you’re throwing to certain guys, it’s got to be a different club. Sometimes you’re throwing over defenders instead of through lanes. And so those are all things that I think come with experience. He played a lot at Michigan. Didn’t throw the ball a ton at Michigan. But I think what JJ McCarthy has, he’s got the intangibles that you cannot coach. I think you can coach the what club in the bag are you using? I think you can coach that. I’m a I’m someone who would buy on the Minnesota Vikings right now. I think this is a good team. I think this quarterback will have a good year. Um, but certainly the analogy that you used with a young Colin Kaepernick, I think that’s a great example of a guy that um, you know, has a great arm, a very strong arm, can throw a tight spiral, throw it far, but the club’s in the bag is certainly a thing. Matt Hasselbeck road weary. I mean, just literally racing to the in front of his screen to get on the uh on the show, buddy. And I always appreciate that the effort. Awesome. See you, Colin. All right. Uh Matt Hasselbeck.

Colin Cowherd is joined by Matt Hasselbeck to react to the latest in the NFL. They discuss whether it was a mistake for Ben Johnson and the Chicago Bears to not give Caleb Williams more reps. They react to Jaxson Dart’s debut with the New York Giants, whether Shedeur Sanders is ready for to be QB for Cleveland Browns, will Matt Stafford play for the Los Angeles Rams, and the Minnesota Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy.

#minnesotavikings #chicagobears #calebwilliams