Caleb Williams
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Ben Johnson and the Chicago Bears aren't overly concerned about Caleb Williams' ongoing accuracy issues
Perhaps if it were any other franchise, it wouldn’t feel like a heart attack every time Caleb Williams drops back to pass. But Caleb Williams is not wearing a Tennessee Titans, Arizona Cardinals or New Orleans Saints uniform each and every Sunday. No, he puts on the Navy Blue and Orange of the Chicago Bears… the NFL’s oldest franchise, and one that is starved for a franchise quarterback.
Even if there were a pair of Dry Aged Wagyu T-Bones hanging from the tippy top of the Willis Tower in downtown Chicago, those steaks wouldn’t be higher than the stakes that Caleb has encountered on a weekly basis since making his NFL debut one year ago. Every single thing he’s done and said, both on and off the field, has been viewed through a microscope since his final season at USC, and as a result, he’s become one of the most polarizing athletes in the the world.
The topic du jour early on in the 2025 season is Caleb Williams’ accuracy issues, which the second-year quarterback himself admitted have been frustrating. Dating back to the start of training camp, the well-established goal — set by new Bears head coach Ben Johnson — has been for Williams to complete 70 percent of his passes this season. Through one game, Williams is at 60 percent, and he missed some gimme’s in Chicago’s Week 1 loss.
“You did everything up to that point right, and then you miss a pass. It’s frustrating,” Williams said this week, per Courtney Cronin of ESPN. “That’s something that we practice on, something that we get after and something that I’m going to keep getting after, keep correcting… You miss and you move on. You correct and you find ways to get better.”
Ben Johnson Approves of Caleb Williams’ Progression
Perfection is the enemy of progress, and even if every Bears fan at some point had visions of Caleb Williams becoming something close to a perfect quarterback, that’s a goal that’s unattainable.
But a goal that is attainable for Caleb Williams is improving his craft on a weekly basis, and even on a short week, Ben Johnson sees this happening as the Bears approach a must-win game versus the Detroit Lions this Sunday afternoon.
“I’ve been very happy with how he’s been downloading the information, and I thought, for the most part, last week was really good for him this week. On a shorter week, it’s more challenging, particularly on the road,” Johnson said of Williams, according to Patrick Finley of the Chicago Sun-Times. “We’re finding that right level to where he can still play fast and confident football, but still give us enough in the arsenal for our guys to get the ball and do what they need to do.”
It’s all about finding the appropriate balance of what made Caleb Williams such an intriguing prospect coming out of USC, and what would make him the ideal quarterback for an elaborate, detailed, and at it’s best, incredibly explosive NFL system. But remember, Caleb’s growth was undoubtedly stunted by a tumultuous rookie year in which multiple coaches and coordinators were fired during the season.
Even still, Caleb’s numbers across his first 18 NFL starts hold up reasonably well in comparison to the previous five quarterbacks who were selected with the 1st overall pick in the NFL Draft.
Caleb Williams, first 18 career NFL starts – 62.3% completion, 3,751 passing yards, 21 touchdowns, 6 interceptions, 87.7 passer rating, 547 rushing yards, 1 rushing touchdown
Bryce Young, first 18 career NFL starts – 59.3% completion, 3,122 passing yards, 11 touchdowns, 13 interceptions, 70.9 passer rating, 271 rushing yards, 1 rushing touchdown
Trevor Lawrence, first 18 career NFL starts – 59.5% completion, 3,916 passing yards, 13 touchdowns, 18 interceptions, 72.1 passer rating, 338 rushing yards, 2 rushing touchdowns
Joe Burrow, first 18 career NFL starts – 66.3% completion, 4,903 passing yards, 33 touchdowns, 14 interceptions, 96.7 passer rating, 185 rushing yards, 3 rushing touchdowns
Kyler Murray, first 18 career NFL starts – 64.7% completion, 4,238 passing yards, 22 touchdowns, 14 interceptions, 86.9 passer rating, 702 rushing yards, 7 rushing touchdowns
Baker Mayfield, first 18 career NFL starts – 62.7% completion, 4,872 passing yards, 31 touchdowns, 20 interceptions, 90.0 passer rating, 131 rushing yards
Joe Burrow is an obvious outlier here, but compared to any of the other four QBs, you could make a case that Caleb Williams is the most promising of the bunch. At the very least, he’s not the abject failure that some have made him out to be. But again, that’s a byproduct of playing in Chicago, a city that has never been home to a quarterback with a ceiling as high as that of Caleb Williams.