Every Chicago Bears fan is understandably excited about the potential leap in year two for quarterback Caleb Williams, the top pick in the 2024 NFL Draft and one of the most talented young quarterbacks in the NFL.
Williams has the potential to skyrocket into the top 10 overall quarterbacks in the league in a hurry based on his physical abilities alone, but we saw in his rookie year that jumping in the deep end of the NFL is not as easy as other young quarterbacks have made it seem. Williams took too many sacks in his rookie season in combination with the offensive line in front of him needing significant upgrades. There were coaching changes made mid-season and obviously, it was a tough rookie year for Williams.
With Ben Johnson leading the charge, the Bears have a fresh set of eyes on everything that went down last year, and Johnson was hired specifically to maximize Williams and his abilities. If Williams can take that proverbial next step, so can (and will) the Bears as a team.
But the latest update out of Bears camp is at least slightly concerning, depending on how you read into it.
Latest Caleb Williams update could be something concerning to file away for Bears fans
Ben Johnson said he gave Caleb Williams some homework/guidelines to work on over the break. That entailed:
— Courtney Cronin (@CourtneyRCronin) July 22, 2025
-Spending 30-40 minutes to an hour a day in the playbook. Williams: "If you can’t give up an hour or 30 minutes to go over your playbook, you probably shouldn’t be in this…
There is nothing inherently wrong with any of these things. You want your quarterback studying the playbook. You want your quarterback working on his footwork. You want your quarterback trying to correct throws that were missed during OTAs.
But there are also reasons why perhaps the pessimistic Bears fans out there will view this as more reasons to doubt Williams having a second-year breakthrough. Why does the former #1 overall pick seemingly need to be coached to spend 30-60 minutes in his playbook? Missing short throws at OTAs when guys aren't wearing pads or even going full speed is concerning.
Again, playing in the NFL is not easy, and Williams is discovering that rather quickly. Some of the most physically talented prospects have floundered at the highest level because they can't play the game above the shoulder pads.
And that's exactly what Johnson is teaching Williams to do. Williams didn't have a good coaching staff around him last year with the Bears, and now he does. He might be learning things now that he should have been learning last year.
And in that way, perhaps there is ample reason for optimism. Williams wasn't going to step into the NFL with the work habits of 2013 Peyton Manning or Tom Brady entering his 20th NFL season. There is a process to all of it, and if nobody has taught him that in the past, there's no better time than right now.
Read more: Ben Johnson set lofty 2025 goal for Caleb Williams (but might not achieve)
Still, this will be a report to file away for a later time if things end up getting worse with Williams and not better.