CHICAGO – Over the course of the summer, we’re going to be bombarded with highlights of Caleb Williams completing passes to Keenan Allen, DJ Moore and Rome Odunze. There will be deep shots, short gap throws and touchdowns. The hype will be off the charts as fans attempt to project how great Williams can be in the NFL.
A former NFL tight end believes there are currently ways to judge how great Williams can be. Clay Harbor spent nearly eight seasons in the league, catching passes from Tom Brady, Drew Brees and Matt Stafford. He’s seen what it takes to be the best, and he recently joined us for an episode of the “Under Center” podcast to reveal what he would look for to determine whether or not Williams can join their ranks.
“The first thing I want to see is what are his habits?” » said Harbour. “Is he coming early? Is this a guy who’s going to stay late and throw away? Does he leave the building before everyone else, or do you stay there until everyone has left?
Harbor said it’s easy to fall back into those habits immediately, sometimes as early as rookie minicamp. It is not difficult to sort out players who train on the field because they love football or are dedicated to giving their best, versus players who train on the field because They are looking for a salary.
To illustrate his point, Harbor shared the story of his first OTAs with the Patriots in 2016.
“Tom Brady is in the front row. He’s been in this offense for 16 years…but Tom Brady is in the front row taking notes on every play in the base setup. It’s something normal. How many times has he experienced this? I said, “What is he doing?” Does he draw stick figures? He knows it better than the coaches, 16th year on offense, and he takes notes.
When Harbor described Brees, he used the word “meticulous” several times. Brees’ demanding nature set him apart from the other QBs he played with.
“I came back after catching a ball and just put it on the ground,” Harbor recalled during an offseason volunteer job with Brees in 2017. “He said, ‘Clay, don’t put the ball on the ground .’ I don’t like to bend over more than necessary. I say, “Okay,” so next time I just waited until he could get the ball, so he didn’t have to bend over to pick up the ball. That shows how meticulous these quarterbacks are.
Harbor also recalled Brees’ exceptional generosity for those offseason workouts.
“He buys my flight, first class, both ways. He puts me up in a five-star hotel. I picked us up every morning at 6am sharp. He took us to his field in California. We had the routes mapped out on a paper, exactly how we were going to do them, the movements, everything, so we could do all the routes. Then he took us to his training center and paid for it. Paid for massages and paid for our food for dinner.
“You can see the things that make these great players great players. »
Obviously, Williams has these characteristics. Many former coaches and teammates have told us that Williams has an incredible drive to become an elite quarterback. He expressed his goal of surpassing Brady’s record for most Super Bowl wins. Williams is known to be another meticulous planner, setting clear goals and developing a detailed outline of how he is going to achieve those goals. He also strives to learn as much as possible about the role of quarterback, whether from coaches, teammates or others. Williams knows he doesn’t have all the answers right now.
“To be a great leader, you must first learn to follow,” Williams said at rookie minicamp. “So right now, I follow all the veterans, I follow all the coaches. I listen, I have both ears open and my mouth closed.
“That’s one of the reasons I think Caleb is going to be successful,” Harbor said. “Because of his personality. He’s not a guy who says ‘I’m the No. 1 pick, I know this stuff, I’m the man.’
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