With the Chicago Bears’ 2025 season over, now comes the portion of the year that involves plenty of discussion on what the team must do next to ensure the journey doesn’t end in the Divisional round of the playoffs but instead with a Super Bowl appearance.
The NFL Scouting Combine, free agency, and the 2026 NFL Draft will be here in the next few months, but until those important dates hit the NFL calendar, there is plenty of time to discuss a variety of football topics.
ESPN’s Seth Walder released his fourth annual “Top 100 real NFL MVP candidates for 2025 season.” Walder submits a 100-player ballot and uses a “variety of sources -- statistics and quantitative metrics, awards such as the All-Pro team, and feedback from NFL front office personnel and colleagues at ESPN” to create his list. He highlighted how he compiled the list of candidates.
“In this exercise, we are measuring player value relative to average at respective positions. So we will almost certainly have quarterbacks at the very top -- it is the highest-leverage position -- but also cannot have more than 16 on the list. This also means we will have more edge rushers than centers, for example. And this is an entirely descriptive exercise about only the 2025 season.”
Seth Walder left a well-deserving Chicago Bears player off the list
There is clearly a lot of work and data that goes into making something like this. The order of the players and submissions also creates plenty to discuss.
Only two Chicago Bears made Walder’s list: Darnell Wright (No. 41) and Joe Thuney (No. 44). No question, the Bears’ offensive linemen deserve to be among the top 100 players; however, there is an obvious player who should be on the list.
Quarterback Caleb Williams. Walder responded to someone on X about the Bears’ quarterback being omitted from this list.
Thought about Williams for final QB spot.
— Seth Walder (@SethWalder) January 22, 2026
But: 16th in QBR despite great pass protection, great running game, elite play designer.
Also: dead last in off-target rate and completion percentage over expected (NGS).
Those numbers don't scream top-half QB. https://t.co/3TYbPGBuCD
The QBR (58.3), off-target rate, and completion percentage over expected (-6.9) are valid criticisms, but was his 3.78% sack rate, which ranked fourth best in the NFL, factored into his list? How about his 3.86% TD:INT Ratio? Can you quantify clutchness? Williams did have six fourth-quarter comeback drives in the 2025 regular season.
As mentioned above, there was a lot of information to go into this article, but it’s odd that quarterbacks like Brock Purdy (No. 89), Baker Mayfield (No. 71), and C.J. Stroud (No. 37) all made the list over Williams.
Read more: Ben Johnson got honest about potentially losing members of Bears coaching staff
Williams made significant strides in the first year of Ben Johnson’s offense, and the Bears’ quarterback should continue to show progress in his game that will land him among the top players on these kinds of lists moving forward.