CBS Sports recently broke down Caleb Williams’ rookie season and looked ahead at how he might fit in Ben Johnson’s offense for year two.
While opinions on Williams’ first year have been mixed, Zachary Pereles came to a widely shared conclusion: if Williams can cut down on negative plays and improve his deep-ball accuracy, he has the tools to succeed.
"In 2024, only Anthony Richardson and Will Levis generated a worse expected points added than Williams did. The biggest issue was sacks, an absolute killer in EPA. Williams took 68 sacks last year, 16 more than anyone else. The Bears lost an expected 108 points on Williams' sacks taken, second-worst on record (since 2000), only behind Bryce Young's disastrous 2023 rookie campaign.
Williams was also bad in this area. He completed just 22 of 80 throws at least 20 yards downfield, and over 41% of such throws were off target, meaning he didn't even give his teammate a chance. Only Mac Jones was worse there. The Bears just kept peppering deep shots, though. Those 80 attempts were most in the NFL."
Williams has some work to do in his development in 2025
It’s easy to blame Shane Waldron, Matt Eberflus, the offensive line, and the skill players — usually in that order — for Williams’ struggles as a rookie. But most fans can agree that while he faced constant pressure thanks to poor protection, he also tends to invite pressure by holding onto the ball too long.
That trait can work in his favor when extending plays, but the problem is that he takes more sacks under pressure than most quarterbacks. The Bears can improve his protection, but Williams has to improve how he responds when pressure inevitably comes, as other successful quarterbacks do.
As for his deep passing, it’s fair to note that shaky blocking and inconsistent receiver play contributed. But even when those factors were accounted for, Williams still struggled to deliver an accurate ball downfield. At some point, he simply has to throw better deep passes regardless of who is catching them or how much time he has.
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Now in a much better situation with Ben Johnson calling plays and upgraded personnel around him, the big question is whether Williams can correctly identify what went wrong in 2024 what was his fault and what wasn’t, and make the necessary adjustments.