Analysis: Merril Hoge, who cautioned the Bears against drafting Caleb Williams at the Super Bowl two months ago, is still voicing his concerns.
Even though it’s expected that clubs would hurry to select a quarterback on April 25 in the first round of the draft, there is still one skeptic and contrarian voice.
Bears fans are familiar with him from his brief stint as a player in Chicago, but not because of that. Merrill Hoge is who he is known as Mikey.
When Mikey was a child watching the TV ads for Quaker Life Cereal in the 1970s, he detested everything. Merril Hoge doesn’t like any of the quarterbacks in this draft, at least not the ones that are favored by most people.
He detests Jayden Daniels a bit less than most people do.
“You see a kid that I think has the best skill set, the best total skill set to transition to the NFL of all the guys that we have,” Merril Hoge said of Daniels.
Some readers may find this odd because they were expecting it to be Caleb Williams. The Bears want to choose Williams first in the draft, which is why they dealt Justin Fields. However, as everyone who has followed it knows, Hoge believes Williams is a bad player who will eventually be a wasted draft selection.
Merril Hoge essentially stated this in a couple of radio-row interviews he made during Super Bowl week.
What do you think? He’s returned.
Speaking with Dave Logan, Big Al, and Ryan Edwards on Denver’s KOA Sports Radio, Merril Hoge said that he hasn’t become any more appreciative of the anticipated first selection in this draft in the previous two months.
“Just because he runs around, he’s exciting—which is not a skill set by the way—does not mean you can play in the NFL,” Merril Hoge stated. “And just because he performed well in college does not guarantee that he will be a member of the National Football League.
“From how you have to play in the NFL and how he has played, he has a massive learning curve and that is not going to be easy.”
Among other things, Merril Hoge believes Williams won’t be able to play inside the scheme effectively enough to thrive and be consistent. According to Hoge, too many of his major plays are adapted from longer plays that are not part of the playbook.
“That’s how you win is through structure,” Merril Hoge stated. “Coaches plan plays, develop offenses, and assign tasks to everyone for a purpose. Okay, so you would say, “Hey, make a play on two,” if that was all there was to it. His biggest obstacle will be that one.
“His ability to work in a pocket, clean and dirty, process things, and throw with his accuracy will be his hardest obstacle. Since he has already won a Heisman Trophy differently, he finds that endeavor to be rather challenging. He has never done it out of his pocket. He has never shown that he completed the task using his pocket money. And he will have to learn that the hard way.”
Hoge acknowledged that Williams made accurate passes. He described the precision as “elite.”
Williams was almost complimented on the way he processed plays.
Merril Hoge stated, “His processing is just OK.”
That’s a compliment, at least from Hoge.
He predicted that there would be a lot of attention surrounding the incoming quarterbacks in general. They will face pressure that they won’t encounter in college. And how do you perform in that setting, since that’s ultimately what you’ll need to accomplish to play in the NFL? And he is very average whether his pocket is clean or soiled. He processes information mediocrely.
Caleb Williams’ “worst” collegiate game is this one.
He is evasive now. He might be even harder to find than Patrick Mahomes. Does that imply that he is superior to Patrick Mahomes, Deos? Not at all. In actuality, his elusiveness is unusual. I’m distinct. Still, it’s also careless. The number of times the ball has fallen to the ground—16 fumbles in his career—is indescribable. He doesn’t keep the ball safe.”
Hoge continued to criticize Williams for his height and alleged lack of mental toughness before blocking a Bears field goal.
Hoge claims that the highlights on TV and the internet have led us all to believe that Williams is someone he is not.
Hoge goes off-topic at the end of his tirade over Caleb Williams and compares Williams to Mahomes, even though this isn’t a question.
“Because listen, he’s not going to a playoff team,” Hoge replied. “He won’t be working with some of the best NFL coaches ever. He’s not going to go there, sit there for a year, and find a fantastic mentor. Okay, Patrick Mahomes possesses all of those things.
It seems that just one quarterback in the NFL, Patrick Mahomes, is a winner; the others, including C.J. Stroud, whom Hoge claims he has liked from Day 1, are all losers.
And then Hoge said this: “I’m not sure how psychologically tough he is either. I’m not sure if he’s a self-proclaimed punk.
There’s enough hostility here to lead one to believe that Williams is the next Johnny Manziel or Ryan Leaf.
But one must take the source into account. It’s Hoge, who previously said that he preferred Brian Brohm—52 career throws, two seasons, five interceptions, and zero touchdowns—over Aaron Rodgers in the draft.
It may have been stunning if Hoge had said anything more complimentary about Williams.
