Keenan Allen provides important details on connection with Caleb Williams

The addition of veteran wide receiver Keenan Allen over the offseason was one of the final signs that the Chicago Bears were going to move forward with selecting Caleb Williams with the first overall selection in the 2024 NFL Draft.

Not even a week after being acquired by the Bears, Allen was spotted at USC's Pro Day and shared an interaction with Williams. Even though the Bears had yet to officially select Williams, Allen's interaction with the quarterback at his USC Pro Day was a sign that he was ready to get to work on developing a connection with his new quarterback.

Speaking with reporters after the Bears' first practice of training camp on Saturday, Allen discussed the growing connection he is developing with Williams.

"I'm not a guy who masters the playbook by any means sitting at home just looking at the playbook. That's not how I learn it. I'm a trial-and-error guy. I learn through mistakes. Just being able to sit there with him, he'd call out the play, I'd draw it up, and vice versa ... we talk about the play — what I like, what I'm used to, what I usually see — and then going over the knowledge, making sure we're on the same page. Just being able to communicate at this level. Obviously you've got new terminology from college and you're going to get different coverages, too. Just giving him the knowledge that I was taught being with guys like Philip Rivers, obviously Justin Herbert, and just making sure we're seeing things the same way."

If there is a wide receiver to learn from, it's Allen. As Allen mentioned, the quarterbacks he has played with in his career prior to being traded to the Bears were Philip Rivers and Justin Herbert.

Allen's presence and awareness of being a mentor for Williams is another example of the Bears leaving no stone unturned in the development of their rookie quarterback. Where Allen thrives is his ability to adjust routes on the fly based on what he sees from the defensive coverage in front of him. Allen passing that knowledge to Williams would be a great sign for the quarterback's development during the 2024 season.