‘You Can’t Spell ‘Mentor’ Without ‘NFL Vet’. Geoff Schwartz, the former NFL lineman turned media savant, dropped a truth bomb hotter than a halftime locker-room speech, His words cut through the Chicago Bears’ 2024 season like a blitzing linebacker, exposing a glaring oversight in Caleb Williams’ rookie year: A missing mentor.
“What I found most interesting about that comment isn’t really about the coaches helping him. It says there was no veteran to help him. That’s how you learn — watching film from veterans, from guys who have done it before.” Imagine Patrick Mahomes without Andy Reid, or a rookie Jedi without Obi-Wan. The Bears, in their haste to crown Williams as the savior, forgot to give him a Yoda.
Let’s rewind the tape. Williams, the 2024 No. 1 pick, shattered Bears rookie records (3,541 passing yards, 20 TDs) while getting sacked a franchise-record 68 times—a stat that hits hard. But behind the glitz of those numbers lurked a rookie QB navigating NFL Sundays like a lost tourist in Soldier Field’s maze of corridors. Schwartz, who leaned on Panthers legend Jordan Gross (“He helped me learn how to watch film, how to lift, how to prepare”), didn’t hold back: “When you look at the depth chart last year of the Bears, there was no veteran. That was a huge mistake.” Chicago’s 2024 roster had vets like Kevin Byard and Gerald Everett, but zero seasoned QBs to whisper coverages over a tablet.
In the NFL, film study isn’t just homework—it’s survival where decoding a blitz is like spotting a glitch in the code. For Williams, this meant grinding tape solo, a stark contrast to Schwartz’s Carolina days shadowing Gross. “A lot of times when you watch film, quote unquote, like on your own, it’s with a veteran,” Schwartz noted, likening it to “trying to solve a Rubik’s Cube blindfolded.”
The Bears’ QB room in 2024? A ghost town. No Case Keenum (signed in 2025) to say, ‘Hey, here’s how you prep on Saturdays.’ No clipboard sage to translate defensive schemes from hieroglyphics to English.
A draft day drama that almost rewrote history
Williams’ dad, Carl Williams, saw this coming. Pre-draft, he nearly pulled a Fast & Furious hijack to steer Caleb away from Chicago, fearing the Bears’ QB graveyard rep. But Williams, ever the optimist, shrugged: “I can do it for this team. I’m going to go to the Bears.”
Cue the hero music—except even Batman needs an Alfred. By Week 6, Williams was dropping tears post-game, ‘mentally, physically, and spiritually beaten,’ yet somehow spinning a 353-pass streak sans picks, the fourth-longest ever. The kid had grit, but grit needs grease.
Flashback to April 2024: Chicago, clutching the No. 1 pick like a golden ticket, faced a Williams camp colder than Lambeau in December. Rumors swirled of secret workouts with the Las Vegas Raiders and the Atlanta Falcons, teams with established vets like Davante Adams (now back in LA with the Rams after a New York detour) and Kirk Cousins. The Bears, meanwhile, rolled into OTAs with a QB room greener than the Soldier Field turf. It was like drafting LeBron and handing him a JV squad—bold, but borderline reckless.
Fast-forward to 2025. The Bears, humbled by Williams’ baptism by fire (and 68 sacks), course-corrected. Enter Case Keenum, a walking NFL Wikipedia, and Pro Bowl guard Joe Thuney. To top it off, the offensive mind being last season’s 15-2 Lions, Ben Johnson, in charge. Suddenly, Williams isn’t just surviving—he’s scheming. Schwartz, ever the realist, mused: “In retrospect, [Caleb’s comments] don’t bother me. I do question the timing… Are people rushing to buy the book today?” Touché. But the lesson’s clear: Rookies need sherpas.
As the Windy City revs up for 2025, Williams—now armed with vets and a revamped O-line—is poised to flip the script. Think Rocky IV montage, but with film sessions and protein shakes. The Bears’ misstep? A cautionary tale as old as Ditka’s mustache. Because in the NFL, talent might get you drafted, but mentorship? That’s what builds legends.
“To be a great leader, you’ve got to learn how to follow first,” Williams once said. In 2025, Chicago’s finally giving him someone to follow. Game on
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