Caleb Williams being great won't determine Bears' 2024 season outcome

We need to be real about what Caleb Williams needs to become vs. what we want him to become in order for the Bears to be good under his rookie deal. Mind you, I am still a fan of Justin Fields. And I believe in running quarterbacks, but there are advantages to even the most average of NFL passers over elite running and less-than-ideal passers.

NFL defenses understand how to adjust against pure running quarterbacks. Once in a while, a big gain could be had on the ground, as Justin Fields showed us, but the consistency wasn't ever there. Now, most defenders will say he didn't have enough around him. That is true, but that doesn't explain his inability to stay consistent. Fields didn't have to put up big numbers to show that he could consistently play quarterback. I am going to jump around a bit, so try to keep up.

When you break down the 11 games Aiden O'Connell played with Las Vegas, you see better consistency than Fields. He never passed for 300 yards in a game, but he was a player who was going to pick up first downs when needed and drive the ball in tight windows. He played quarterback as a passer. The flashy, big passes and runs by Justin Fields were great to see, but until he can be that gnat or mosquito that keeps buzzing around as an annoying chain mover over being a pure playmaker, he won't thrive as a top-15 quarterback.

The Bear don't need Caleb Williams to be great right away.

Don't confuse being boring and not flashy for Caleb Williams. The idea is for him to be able to do both. The point of this conversation is to share how even if he isn't the elite prospect we hope for him to become, he can still help the Bears thrive in his first few years in the NFL. So good ole AOC tossed for 2200 yards, 12 TDs, and seven interceptions. That netted him five wins and five losses. Not everything can be compared equally, but bear with me. Fields went 5-8 passing for 2500 yards, 16 TDs, and nine interceptions. He also added 650 rushing yards and four TDs. I would have shared AOC's rushing numbers, but it wasn't much.

The issue is during Field's good games, he had great ones. But when he was having a bad game, it was awful. AOC was just even. So if the Bears can win five games with all of that uneven play from Fields, Williams only needs to be even in order to maybe take this team to the next level. That Notre Dame game is allegedly why Ryan Poles fell in love with Williams. And why not that game? That was Williams's worst game of his college career. He did create a lot of the chaos that caused the team to lose, which Fields has done. But Williams also tried battling back by mixing in check-downs and being boring with his playmaking ability. Williams showed that even when things aren't going correctly, he can switch up his mindset and play a different game.

So whether Caleb Williams can become the average (Andy Dalton), overly aggressive (Matthew Stafford), or outstanding playmaker (Aaron Rodgers), Williams has the versatility to find a way to win the game at all costs. Before I go, I learned that the Norte Dame game was the second reason Ryan Poles fell in love with Caleb Williams. Check out the Caleb Williams play where he rips the ball out of his own running back arms to get a first down to secure the win.