For the next two months, fantasy football players will be going over the numbers on who to select in their drafts for 2025. Chicago Bears fans are wondering if any of their players would be worth it to pick up.
Pro Football Focus writer Nathan Jahnke has the answer for Bears fans, as he included starting quarterback Caleb Williams as one of the five second-year players who could break out in fantasy. Williams' new-look offense, led by new head coach Ben Johnson, gives optimism that this season will surpass the 2024 season.
"Williams was drafted in fantasy drafts to be a borderline fantasy starter, which is unheard of for rookie quarterbacks unless there is tremendous rushing upside. For Williams, the difference was the situation. The Bears were a 7-10 team with a near-even point differential rather than the worst team in the league.
Unfortunately, Williams got off to a rough start. He completed less than half of his passes in Week 1 with a 50.2 passing grade and finished as QB33 that week. Week 2 wasn’t much better, as he finished with slightly better cumulative stats but a 42.7 passing grade.
Williams could only go up from there, as there were some flashes of a great quarterback throughout the season. He achieved a PFF passing grade between 75.0 and 83.0 in four home games, mostly in the second half of the season. He ended up as QB16 on the season, which wasn’t far off from where he was drafted, but he was 22nd in points per game. He had five games as a top-six fantasy quarterback, which largely coincided with the games where he graded well, but he was outside of the top-18 fantasy quarterbacks in over half of his games, making it impossible to know when to start Williams in single-quarterback leagues.
While the Ben Johnson addition as head coach is a big reason for optimism surrounding Williams, the Bears followed up that addition with several more key players to the offense, which should also help Williams."
Williams has the tools around him to be successful in 2025
Everyone focuses on the 68 sacks and the 10 fumbles that Williams had last year. Those were not great, but there was plenty to be excited about as well. Only six interceptions during the 2024 season show there are aspects to Williams' decision-making that are better than a lot of rookie quarterbacks.
Williams was not set up for success with the changes at head coach, offensive coordinator, and the lack of a consistent running game. There's a lot that can be put on Williams' shoulders as well, with taking too many sacks and not getting passes out quickly enough, but his athleticism to escape pressure and some of the throws he made should give fans excitement there.
Last year in fantasy, Williams was ranked 16th among quarterbacks with 255 points. He was the 78th overall player in fantasy football, so he showed he can help fantasy teams out.
The additions of Luther Burden III and Colston Loveland in the 2025 NFL Draft should help move this offense along into the future. Williams still has his two favorite targets in D.J. Moore and Rome Odunze, so he is set up well for success.
It all comes down to Johnson and whether he can get Williams to become the quarterback Johnson needs him to be. Johnson has already proven he can work with quarterbacks and make them successful with Jared Goff.
Read more: Bears rookie ready to go from quiet sleeper pick to fantasy football star
Williams has more pressure on him to succeed in 2025 and has the tools in place to deliver. He should be looked at more to start in fantasy, as his numbers should improve.