The tour of disrespect is continuing for Chicago Bears second-year quarterback Caleb Williams.
The opener of the tour was on Monday, when Pro Football Focus did not list Williams among the best talents entering the 2025 season under the age of 25. However, not to be outdone by their own work, PFF wanted to continue the disrespect on Tuesday.
In their offseason quarterback rankings, Bears fans had to scroll a long way before they reached Williams' name. Williams was ranked at No. 24.
"Touted as a generational talent by many, Williams underwhelmed as a rookie, earning just a 67.6 overall grade and posting only five single-game grades above 70.0. The talent is undeniable, but his NFL success will hinge on learning to find open targets and avoiding the habit of running himself into pressure," John Kosko wrote for Pro Football Focus.
Caleb Williams continues to be disrespected in the most egregious ways
This feels like a lazy takedown of Williams when you consider that he was working with DJ Moore, who was miserable for most of the 2024 season, a hobbled Keenan Allen, and a rookie wide receiver in Rome Odunze. Not to mention, the Bears' offensive line was undeniably bad last season.
Making these rankings more of an eye-roll is the fact that Vikings quarterback JJ McCarthy is listed at No. 21, despite not having a single start in the NFL and coming off a knee injury that wiped out his rookie season.
The goalposts have certainly moved when it comes to how Williams is being discussed. Despite all the inconsistencies of his rookie season, Williams still managed to throw for over 3,500 yards and 20 touchdowns. That is nothing to scoff at. In fact, because Williams put up those numbers, we would argue that he should be higher, considering he was solo-piloting his development.
The silver lining to all of this is that Ben Johnson is now the Bears' head coach. Rankings such as the one PFF put out on Tuesday should look dramatically different for Williams next offseason. Otherwise, the Bears will have a much larger problem on their hands.