Chicago Bears fans are ready to anoint Caleb Williams the next chosen one and call him their future at the quarterback position. However, while it is easy to excuse his rookie season due to the playcaller and pieces around him, there are still plenty of fans and media members who need to see more from him.
So, when Jeff Howe released his power ranking of the top 32 quarterbacks in the NFL for The Athletic, it should not be a shock that Williams was in the bottom ten, with a ranking of number 24.
Is Howe's ranking a fair one for Williams after his 2024 rookie season with Bears?
Williams supporters can blame the play calling and pieces around him, but he did struggle as a rookie. Williams took more sacks than most quarterbacks do when they face pressure, and his accuracy consistently tailed off as the passes got deeper down the field.
He was not in a good situation, but did not help himself. So, it is hard to get too bent out of shape, especially with where he sits in comparison to his peers.
Williams is ahead of J.J. McCarthy and Michael Penix, two quarterbacks who have even more question marks after their rookie seasons. Williams is also ahead of Cam Ward, another number one pick who has not proven it.
Bo Nix and Drake Maye were a bit better than Williams last year, despite being taken after him. However, Maye is 19th and Nix is 20th. So, even if Williams played well and we could all tell that the only thing holding him back was the core around him, he would probably top out around 19th, just five spots higher.
Williams is ahead of Justin Fields at 29, which shows that the move seems justified two years in. The only potential question is Bryce Young, who showed a bit in his second year, but you could argue that Williams still showed more flashes. Young came in at number 21.
Read more: Bears' bold prediction for 2025 comes from team's biggest weakness in 2024
And of course, it is hard to see any of these lists without viewing Jayden Daniels as number five. One thing that Bears fans have to think about is that if Johnson does turn Williams into what so many thought he was, that is the peak of where this could go.