A year ago right now, it felt like Caleb Williams was entering a pretty nice situation. Ideally the Chicago Bears would have been able to get Kliff Kingsbury, who he worked with at USC, to be their offensive coordinator, but otherwise things looked pretty good.
We know how that turned out. Offensive coordinator Shane Waldron was first to go, followed by head coach Matt Eberflus after the late-game Thanksgiving Day debacle against the Detroit Lions. Thomas Brown went from passing game coordinator to offensive coordinator to interim head coach amid the chaos. A promising 4-2 start was followed by a 10-game losing streak, and a 5-12 final record.
The Bears, as expected, made it their No. 1 offseason objective to make sure Williams has what he needs to succeed. Kingsbury emerged as a strong candidate to be the permanent replacement for Eberflus, but former Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson became the clear-cut choice after a certain point.
Williams' rookie season was not a total failure. He showed flashes of the talent that made him the No. 1 overall pick in 2024, and some components of what went wrong were not his fault. Now, of course, it's up to him to take advantage of a better situation and make the Year 2 leap everyone expects.
It's entirely possible the Bears are a markedly better team this season and it does not lead to a lot more wins in a tough NFC North. Realistic preseason optimists out there would put them in the race for a Wild Card spot, but it would be a stretch to reasonably expect a whole lot more.
Caleb Williams makes list of dark horse MVP candidates
On last Thursday's edition of FS1's "First Things First", with NFL.com's list of the same theme as the launch point for the discussion, co-host Chris Broussard offered his list of three dark horse MVP candidates.
No. 3 was San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy. No. 2 was Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield. And No. 1 was Williams.
"At number one, we go to Chicago. Caleb Williams", Broussard said. "I mean, it's all set up. And here's the thing, he showed enough flashes, like I would be surprised if he does not play well....cause he showed flashes. Four games over 300 (passing yards). Last seven games, 11 touchdowns, only one pick...and here's the competition, Minnesota twice, Detroit twice, San Francisco, Seattle and Green Bay...."
.@Chris_Broussard revealed his 2025 Dark Horse NFL MVPs 👀
1. Caleb Williams
2. Baker Mayfield
3. Brock Purdy
Thoughts? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/Tn6TSbdSJS
— First Things First (@FTFonFS1) June 12, 2025
As of this writing, and subject to change, FanDuel Sportsbook has Williams at +3100 to win league MVP. This means, for example, a $10 bet would net you $310 in profit.
Read more:Caleb Williams gets absolved of some blame for a (hopefully) fixable flaw
MVP is as much a team award as it is an individual award, since we don't see a player on a non-playoff team win it. But if someone were especially optimistic about the Bears this year, optimism about Williams having a breakout season is inherent.
In any case, such as one might form, Broussard has taken the wheel of the "dark horse MVP" bandwagon for the Bears' signal caller.