Caleb Williams and what history tells us about a rookie quarterback’s ability to start fast

There isn’t a position in professional sports that is more difficult or challenging than quarterback in the NFL. Not only is arm talent needed, but players must also be able to diagnose coverages, maneuver the pocket, have excellent vision, display impeccable timing, and have a certain level of moxie to their game. In other words, there’s a lot to handle, which can make starting out as a rookie a daunting task.

That’s what new Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams is preparing to do. Williams was drafted with the No. 1 overall pick last April, and the team made it clear that he’s their Week 1 starter. It’s a first for the Bears, who have preferred to sit their prized rookie quarterbacks behind a veteran until they were deemed ready for action. Not with Williams. Right away, he’s been taking all of the first-team reps and is the clear-cut starter for a Bears team going into the season with playoff aspirations. To get there, though, they will need to start out on the right foot.

That can be challenging for rookie quarterbacks, however. Since the rookie wage scale was implemented back in 2011, 24 rookie quarterbacks have started for their team in Week 1. Some had success immediately (CJ Stroud), while others were thrown to the wolves (DeShone Kizer).

To determine if rookies really do struggle out of the gate when starting in Week 1, we took a look at various statistics from 23 of those quarterbacks over the course of their first four games as professionals. These include completion percentage, yards per game, touchdowns, interceptions, quarterback rating, and overall record. We also included their rookie season averages to compare and see if they improved or regressed as the year went on.

PLEASE NOTE: Because this list focuses on rookie quarterbacks who started Week 1, players who started a week later, like Deshaun Watson, Josh Allen, and Justin Herbert, were not included. Anthony Richardson was omitted since he only played in four games total his rookie year and left two of them early due to injury. All statistics used are courteous of Stathead.

With that, here are all 23 rookie quarterbacks: