The Chicago Bears made the franchise-altering decision to select Caleb Williams with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. It was a no-brainer at the time. He was hailed as the best quarterback prospect in years. A singular talent who could turn even the Bears into a perennial contender.
That may very well happen. Anybody jumping ship after one season is profoundly overreacting. There were plenty of positive moments from Williams' first campaign. Now he has a proven play-calling wiz in Ben Johnson to pull the strings. Chicago has made every effort to bolster the wide receiver room and improve the O-line. Williams is in a great position to succeed, now and for years to come.
His rookie season was an unequivocal disappointment, though. That was not entirely his fault. We all knew Matt Eberflus was a dead man walking on the sideline. We knew Chicago's depth chart just was not up to par with a competitive NFC North. And, to be frank, we knew Williams might need time to learn the ropes of an NFL offense.
Still, Williams, once propped up as the next great quarterback, was thoroughly outperformed by Jayden Daniels, the No. 2 pick, and Drake Maye, the No. 3 pick. Hell, even Bo Nix was better. Michael Penix Jr. didn't get a full season to prove his stuff, but Atlanta's controversial No. 8 pick was mostly solid upon his ascent.
Yet to prove himself fully in the NFL, Williams should probably lay off of the competitive posturing.
Caleb Williams' tone deaf statement about competitive advantages won't help Bears
When speaking on the culture around the NFL, Williams bemoaned its "friendly" nature. He told NBC Sports that he does not have close relationships with other quarterbacks.
"I think the NFL game has become very friendly," Williams said. "I want to keep that competitive advantage."
He's not the first quarterback to parrot this narrative — we've heard similar comments from Lamar Jackson — but it feels especially hollow coming from the 23-year-old with minimal NFL success. Jackson is a two-time MVP on the Super Bowl track. Williams has a long way to go before he's even mentioned in the same breath.
The surface-level stats for Williams look fine. He threw for 3,541 yards and 20 touchdowns as a rookie, only committing six interceptions. He ran for another 489 yards. The dual-threat ability is real. He has the physical tools and natural talent necessary to develop into a Pro Bowl quarterback.
As things sit, however, Williams also posted the third-worst completion percentage among regular starters. His intended air yards per pass — i.e., the average depth of targets — was 7.9 yards. Those explosive plays Williams made a habit of at USC did not translate to the professional stage.
Now, again, he was a rookie. A slow start is not a death knell. Williams should benefit immeasurably from Ben Johnson, who took Jared Goff from the fringe of anonymity and transformed him into one of the NFL's top quarterbacks. Chicago has plenty of depth in the WR room, a productive run game (on paper), and a workable defense. There's a world in which the Bears are a playoffs team in 2025 and Williams starts to earn a bit more credit.
For now, however, he should probably keep the lame platitudes about being locked in and competitive to a minimum. You can be friends with other quarterbacks and still perform on the field. To say otherwise is nonsense. Bears fans just need Williams to deliver on the field, not in the realm of try-hard quotes.