The arrival of Ben Johnson as Chicago Bears head coach was undeniable great news for Caleb Williams. From a fantasy football perspective, with offseason moves to fortify the structure around the young signal caller, the upside potential was hard to ignore.
Still, with how Johnson's Detroit Lions' offenses operated, there was sure to be some ups and downs for Williams' fantasy output. Through six games, that has come to fruition. Let's take a look at Williams' weekly fantasy finishes.
Week 1: QB9
Week 2: QB20
Week 3: QB1
Week 4: QB25
Week 5: Bye
Week 6: QB10
Week 7: QB27
The Bears beat the New Orleans Saints in Week 7 on the strength of their run game and an opportunistic defense. Williams clearly was not at his best, but he was also never really in line to have a big game through the air (26 pass attempts).
Fantasy analyst is bullish on Caleb Williams for rest of season
Beckett Mesko of Pro Football Focus took a look at some "boom and bust" fantasy performances from Week 7.
Williams' showing against the Saints led the "bust" category.
"Last year's No. 1 overall pick notched just 5.3 fantasy points, despite previously averaging 20.8 points per game through six weeks. However, the Bears' top two running backs combined for 31 carries, 205 yards and two touchdowns, so Williams wasn't needed to propel the team to victory."
"This “bust” was less about Williams, who did what he needed to do despite an interception, and more about a game script where the Bears held a lead and were running the ball with great success."
Mesko offered a "temperature check" for each player who had a boom or bust performance in Week 7. What was that outlook for Williams?
"Temperature Check: High-end QB1"
In Week 8 Williams will face the Baltimore Ravens, who enter the week allowing the second-most fantasy points per game to quarterbacks (Yahoo! scoring). After that he'll face the Cincinnati Bengals (Week 9), the New York Giants (Week 10), the Minnesota Vikings (Week 11) and Pittsburgh Steelers (Week 12). The Bengals, Giants and Steelers enter Week 8 allowing the ninth, third and fourth-most fantasy points per game to quarterbacks respectively, and Williams had two total touchdowns and 24.2 fantasy points against the Vikings back in Week 1.
Read more: Jaquan Brisker says it all about difference Ben Johnson has made for the Bears
Williams' schedule gets tougher just in time for the end for the last couple weeks of the fantasy regular season and the playoffs, when bad weather could also be more in play during a string of outdoor games. But in the coming handful of weeks, when playoff positioning is taking shape, Williams' arrow is pointing way up after the low of Week 7.