Life with a rookie quarterback is difficult in the NFL, no matter how prepared your coach and roster are to ride the wave.
However, an imperfect plan or faulty roster construction can exacerbate the growing pains and even delay or derail a promising career.
Drafting a franchise quarterback high in the draft is just a fraction of the battle. To give a young quarterback the best chance to succeed, you need to cross all your T's and dot all your I's, lest you risk spoiling the best asset in sports.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Chicago sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
That's something the Bears prioritized since before No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams arrived in April. It's something the New England Patriots have been unable to accomplish for No. 3 overall pick Drake Maye.
The Bears moved heaven and earth this offseason to give Williams the best possible runway for a clear takeoff during his NFL rookie season. That plan included upgrades to the supporting cast, hiring an offensive staff that excels at teaching, methodical mapping of checkpoints for Williams during Year 1, and handing the quarterback the keys to the franchise on Day 1.
All of that has Williams primed to liftoff when the Bears open the season on Sept. 8 against the Tennessee Titans.
The early success of the Bears' plan contrasts starkly with the dilemma the Patriots currently face as Week 1 approaches.
Bears Analysis
Unlike the Bears, who did not bring in a veteran to compete with or start over Williams, the Patriots signed quarterback Jacoby Brissett in the offseason. The belief was that Maye would need time to develop and that it would be better to throw Brissett out behind a leaky offensive line with limited weapons than risk scarring Maye early on in a critical development season.
But Maye has taken huge strides over the summer and entered the final week of the preseason in a clear competition with Brissett to be the Week 1 starter.
Maye's performance in the Patriots' preseason finale Sunday only solidified the rookie's case for taking the reins now. Maye has rare gifts. He is great at managing the space in the pocket and can rip throws downfield in between different levels of coverage.
He, like Williams, clearly has the goods.
Had the Patriots done more work to solidify the roster around Maye this offseason, they would have an easy decision to make.
But they didn't, leading to some awkward moments for new head coach Jerrod Mayo.
After Sunday's game, Mayo said Maye had been the Patriots' "second-best" quarterback in camp.
But on Monday, Mayo went on WEEI sports radio in Boston and said that Maye had "outplayed" Brissett during the summer.
Further highlighting the Patriots' conundrum was Mayo's admission that the Patriots' starting tackle or starting guard "might not be on the roster yet."
Starting-caliber offensive tackles are never available on waivers. They almost never hit the free-agent market, and teams don't just cut bait with players who can be a reliable offensive tackle.
The Patriots drafted Maye at the beginning of a rebuild. Assuming they had one, their plan was a long-term vision that likely had them planning to mainly redshirt Maye this fall.
But they didn't account for Maye flashing early, and their lack of sound infrastructure and a competent offensive line now have them in a tricky position.
The insistence on signing Brissett as the starter instead of allowing Maye to be the guy from Day 1 was also a clear misstep in the quarterback development plan—one the Bears made with Mitchell Trubisky and Justin Fields but did not make with Williams.
"I think those reps are so valuable," Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow said of allowing a rookie quarterback to get all the reps immediately. "I think you have to start 'em right away, because you learn so much in that first year when you're getting those reps and when you come in and you're named the starter immediately ... I'll never quite understand when you draft a guy that you know is going to be your starter, but then you don't name him your starter immediately and so then he misses out on all those reps with the ones that you would have had had you just come in as the starter."
As the Patriots wrestle with a dilemma of their own making, Maye's career could very well hang in the balance. NFL history is littered with the bones of rookie quarterbacks who were ruined by a dreadful situation in Year 1.
Meanwhile, Williams appears ready to ascend to stardom in Chicago. There will be turbulence, but the Bears' plan has set him up for early success, adding rocket fuel to the combination of confidence and talent that has everyone believing this time will be different for the Bears.