Can Caleb Williams-led Bears live up to hype? Will Seahawks soar again behind hot defensive scheme?

Former NFL player and scout Bucky Brooks knows the ins and outs of this league, providing keen insight in his notebook. Today’s installment covers:

• The defense that could be set for a revival thanks to the league’s hottest scheme.

But first, a look at one team garnering plenty of attention this offseason …

The hype train is off and running in Chicago, with ballyhooed quarterback prospect Caleb Williams joining the kind of well-rounded roster that’s completely foreign to the typical No. 1 overall pick. Despite making the playoffs just twice in the past 13 seasons, the Bears are drawing widespread interest as potential dark-horse contenders in the 2024 campaign. After C.J. Stroud abruptly flipped the script last season in Houston, could Williams follow suit in Chicago?

It’s certainly understandable and deserved, the excitement surrounding the Bears. This team, which has long desired a strong quarterback, has now acquired a talented player for the most crucial position in the game. Furthermore, Williams is poised for success, thanks to an excellent supporting team on both offense and defense.

Since taking over as general manager in January of 2022, Ryan Poles has beefed up Chicago’s defense via free agency (SEE: linebackers Tremaine Edmunds and T.J. Edwards), draft (defensive backs Tyrique Stevenson, Jaquan Brisker and Kyler Gordon) and trade (defensive end Montez Sweat). This unit really came together in the second half of last season under defensive-minded head coach Matt Eberflus. After acquiring Sweat at the trade deadline, Chicago ranked sixth in scoring defense (17.9 ppg) and 10th in total defense (309.2 ypg). With most of the personnel coming back, the Bears’ D should be stingy once again in 2024. But what about Williams’ direct support on offense?

On The Move the Sticks Podcast, Daniel Jeremiah and I often discuss how a young quarterback’s success typically relies on The Three Ps:

• Protection
• Playmakers
• Play-caller

Let’s start with the protection in Chicago. Last year’s offensive line was forced to deal with a number of injuries, limiting the unit’s overall effectiveness. That said, 2022 fifth-round pick Braxton Jones and 2023 first-rounder Darnell Wright provided positive returns at the bookends, while 2021 second-rounder Teven Jenkins further cemented himself as a quality guard. With continued growth, this young trio can safeguard the rookie quarterback in 2024 and beyond. And this offseason, Poles added a pair of scrappy veteran options for the all-important center position: free-agent signing Coleman Shelton and trade acquisition Ryan Bates, both of whom also offer additional depth at the guard position. All in all, Chicago has built an offensive line that — with better health luck — can do just fine in protecting its first-year signal-caller. And if the first “P” holds up its end of the bargain, the second “P” is poised to terrorize opposing defenses.

You want playmakers? This team has ’em in spades! Fresh off a magnificent debut season in Chicago in which he set career highs in receptions (96), receiving yards (1,364) and receiving touchdowns (eight), DJ Moore already provided the Bears with a true difference-maker at the receiver position. Then in March, Poles traded for six-time Pro Bowl WR Keenan Allen. A month later, Poles spent the No. 9 overall pick on WR Rome Odunze. Suddenly, the Bears have a three-headed monster at wideout offering size, strength and inside/outside versatility. This trio will make Williams’ life much easier by creating separation, expanding the strike zone and overpowering corners on 50/50 balls. And that’s not all! Cole Kmet has emerged as an upper-echelon playmaker at tight end, giving Williams another big-bodied pass catcher to target over the middle of the field. And with the free-agent signing of athletic TE Gerald Everett, the Bears can create a dynamic “12” personnel package (one running back, two tight ends, two wide receivers). Overall, this pass-catching group is one of the league’s very best. And I haven’t even touched on the backfield, where Poles added explosive runner/receiver D’Andre Swift in free agency. Chicago has assembled a spectacular cast of weapons with interchangeable/complementary skill sets. The new QB1 has ample toys to play with.

Long story short, the Bears have checked the boxes on protection and playmakers. So, what about the third “P”? That brings us to Chicago’s new offensive coordinator, Shane Waldron, who spent the past three seasons filling the same role under Pete Carroll in Seattle. If the Bears are to meet rising expectations, the 44-year-old coach must develop a plan that allows Williams to drive this ship with aplomb. With the Seahawks, Waldron helped turn journeyman Geno Smith into a Pro Bowler. Can he also compose an offense that allows a rookie starter to thrive under center? In his introductory press conference back in February, Waldron was asked if he thinks his system can adapt to the quarterback, regardless of playing style and/or experience. In answering the question, he didn’t stutter.

“Yeah, I totally believe that,” Waldron said. “I think, in the past experiences, like I said, with different quarterbacks, different experience levels, whether I was in a coordinator role or in a role as a position coach, I felt that way. I felt different quarterbacks have been able to step foot into the system, be able to learn it quickly. And that starts with us being able to teach it in a good and efficient manner where they understand it. And then being able to go and, again, adjust. Because each guy’s gonna have a different skill set, so what direction does it go? The players really take ownership and control of that.”

The collaboration between Waldron and Smith was notably impressive. The latter, a former second-round pick, had a breakout season in his tenth year, excellently navigating Waldron’s heavy running, play-action strategy that focused on long passes. Despite expectations of a rebuilding year in 2022, the Seahawks made the playoffs, and Smith was honored as Comeback Player of the Year. Geno completed a leading 69.8 percent of his passes for 4,282 yards and 30 touchdowns (with 11 interceptions), resulting in an outstanding 100.9 passer rating. Smith’s sudden efficiency and effectiveness indicate that Waldron has a knack for maximizing his players’ skills and minimizing a quarterback’s in-pocket weaknesses.

Waldron’s striking success with Smith should help him earn Williams’ respect as a teacher and play designer, while also assuring the veteran playmakers that they will get enough touches to impact the game. Though the offense presumably will prioritize the ground game to keep the Bears out of long-yardage situations, the mix of run and pass should enable Williams to string together easy completions on an assortment of throws at various ranges. That last part’s crucial, as a blend of short, intermediate and deep passes will prevent defenses from condensing the field to slow down a promising ground attack featuring Swift and Khalil Herbert. As Moore, Allen and Odunze take turns working inside the numbers, Williams will have plenty of chances to stretch the field on vertical and horizontal plays. If the protection keeps the rookie upright in the pocket, Waldron will be in position to pick and choose how to attack opponents while limiting the risky plays from the green QB.

Highly skilled players have the ability to successfully execute meticulously planned plays. Therefore, considering the widespread praise for Williams as a prospect, Waldron faces enormous pressure to fully utilize the new representative of the franchise in Chicago. There is a lot of excitement in the Windy City, but for the Bears to validate all this hype, they need an exceptional harmony between the play-caller and his star player.

Scheme to fuel Seahawks revival on D?

Pete Carroll took the Seahawks to unprecedented heights for the franchise by utilizing a Cover 3 defensive scheme that spawned copycats around the league. Although the defense ultimately fell apart after the Legion of Boom broke up, Seattle could be on the verge of a similar rise with head coach Mike Macdonald coming on board and implementing the hottest defensive scheme in football.

Macdonald, a veteran assistant coach for the Ravens, served as the University of Michigan’s defensive coordinator in 2021 before moving on to the DC role in Baltimore. Here, he led one of the NFL’s best defenses over the last two seasons. Last season, he commanded the top-scoring defense, using techniques and strategies that could permeate the entire league. Three of his ex-assistants, Zach Orr from Baltimore, Anthony Weaver from Miami, and Dennard Wilson from Tennessee, along with his successor at Michigan, Jesse Minter from the Chargers, secured defensive play-calling positions this offseason.

As the scheme director, Macdonald, who incorporates simulated pressures and blitzes popular in college games, should be commended for creating game plans that allow defenders to perform swiftly and freely within the lines. While the setup may seem intricate to the offense, it’s quite simple for defenders to understand the strategies.

After speaking to players and coaches familiar with the defense, I believe the secret sauce lies in Macdonald’s ability to teach his scheme, categorizing his play calls in buckets that make the learning easy for everyone. Macdonald teaches defenders the entire concept, instead of only their assignment, creating a plug-and-play system that enables the coach to run the same blitzes and pressures from different personnel packages.

The varied presentations of the same blitz cause disruption for the offense, while the defense easily executes their preferred blitz patterns with defenders changing roles. This strategy is often praised by defensive coordinators across the league, but few have implemented it as effectively as Macdonald and his team. They’ve innovated with strategies like playing a game of musical chairs in practice, with defenders executing the same blitz from different positions, and using single-word play calls to establish the front, pressure pattern and coverage. Macdonald successfully harnesses his players’ abilities through inventive game-planning, allowing them to play at a high speed.

In Seattle, he inherits a talented defense with a core of playmaking veterans that could make the scheme pop. In fact, Macdonald might have a more talented unit in Seattle than he did with the Ravens last season. That statement might be hard to fathom, based on the Seahawks’ defensive struggles in 2023 (ranked 30th in total defense, 25th in scoring, 31st in run defense and 21st in pass defense). However, the core of Leonard Williams, Dre’Mont Jones, Jarran Reed, Uchenna Nwosu, Riq Woolen and Devon Witherspoon is a collection of potential rock stars waiting to break out as a band. With a handful of veteran free-agent signees (Tyrel Dodson, Jerome Baker and Rayshawn Jenkins) and a few breakout candidates (Boye Mafe, Darrell Taylor, Coby Bryant and rookie Byron Murphy II) in place to help the group get back on track, Macdonald has the ingredients to put together a top-10 defense in his first season on the job.

Observing their abilities, the Seahawks possess the necessary frontline warriors to cause upheaval at the scrimmage line. Williams, Jones, and Mafe together accounted for 17.5 sacks in 2023 without the need for deceptive play calls designed to free up rushers for the quarterback. With the return of Nwosu, who had 9.5 sacks in 2022 but whose 2023 season was cut short by a torn pectoral muscle, the Seahawks now have four defenders capable of applying pressure on the quarterback from various angles. Additionally, as Macdonald starts experimenting with second and third-tier pass rushers with disruptive capabilities, we might see the Seahawks using Baker (with 22.5 career sacks), Taylor (with 21.5 career sacks), and Witherspoon (with three sacks in 2023) to intensify pressure on opposing quarterbacks. The elements are all there for the defensive play-caller to confuse offenses with misdirection at the point of contact, thereby creating easy sack opportunities.

Considering the skill and physical prowess of the Seahawks’ secondary, Macdonald has the ability to interchange different coverage concepts. This would elevate the level of overall deception, as opposing quarterbacks would find it hard to anticipate the coverage lurking behind the pressure.

While rapid assembly of the elements is necessary, the blend of strategy, conducive learning environment, and lofty standards might trigger a surge akin to the one experienced by Seattle’s defense in the early 2010s. During this time, the Legion of Boom reigned supreme in the league, marking the Seahawks as consistent championship contenders.