After taking quarterback Caleb Williams first overall in the 2024 NFL Draft, the Chicago Bears went against the grain to take punter Tory Taylor in the fourth round. With just five picks in that draft, that early Day 3 pick could've been put to better use, right?
Soon after the draft, Taylor revealed a text message he got from Williams.
New Bears punter Tory Taylor said he got this text from Caleb Williams: "Hey, you're not going to punt too much here."
— Kevin Fishbain (@kfishbain) April 27, 2024
Last season, as the Bears had the kind of disjointed offense that would be expected when you have three coordinators, Taylor punted the second-most times in the league (82). So naturally, Williams' post-draft text to his fellow rookie went viral for all the wrong reasons as the season went on.
Through eight games this season. The Bears have the sixth-best scoring offense in the league (26.9 points per game). More directly impacting Taylor's workload, they enter Week 10 with the league's eighth-best third down conversion rate (42.9 percent).
Head coach Ben Johnson's more aggressive approach on fourth down, going for it 10 times so far this year, after the Bears attempted it 19 times all of last year, has also reduced Taylor's workload.
Caleb Williams' promise to Tory Taylor has come to fruition this season
Through eight games this season, Taylor has punted just 26 times (24th in the league, with one game of Week 10 complete). He has punted five or more times in a game once thus far, after doing so nine times last year.
If that seems like very few punts for Taylor in the context of the Bears' history, especially with some less-than-prolific offenses in recent decades, Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune confirmed exactly that.
#Bears have 26 punts and that is the lowest figure for the team through the first 8 games in the Super Bowl era. Lot less work for Tory Taylor, who punted 82 times as a rookie last season.
— Brad Biggs (@BradBiggs) November 6, 2025
Taylor punted at basically a league-average level last year, based on raw average, net average, etc., and he is doing the same so far this season. But the noticeably lighter workload is clearly helping him do his job more effectively.
Over four games since the Bears' Week 5 bye, Taylor is averaging 51.1 yards per punt with a 46.6-yard net average. Over that span, 44.4 percent of his punts (four of nine) have been downed inside the 20-yard line. For the season so far, those numbers would be sixth, second, and ninth in the league, respectively.
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Williams' post-draft text to Taylor aged incredibly poorly amid last season's dysfunction. But as it turns out, the Bears' signal caller was just a little early with his prediction, and the residual benefit for Taylor is really only starting.