As show by a hindsight reveal, Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams knew his rookie season wouldn't go well before it even started. It's worth wondering if those immediate concerns colored his effort to work with former offensive coordinator Shane Waldron, but Waldron's play-calling did him no favors in the situation.
The Bears did what they needed to to get Williams on the right track after his disappointing rookie season. Leading that effort if of course head coach Ben Johnson, who is setting a strict standard. By all accounts Williams has responded well to being coached hard as the two build a strong connection.
In the simplest terms, as scouting reports when he was coming out of USC for the 2024 draft would have foreshadowed, Williams has to become more consistent in Year 2. A big part of that will be honing his craft as an on-time pocket passer, aligning with the saying "you can't go broke taking a profit" and not taking as many sacks as he did last year. There's a time a place for "wow" plays, but a quarterback can't make a living strictly off of them.
Placement on Week 1 quarterback ranking shows how much Caleb Williams has to prove
Cody Benjamin of CBS Sports is out with his quarterback power rankings for Week 1. Williams comes in at No. 22 on the list, and Benjamin nailed the bottom line for the Bears' signal caller this season.
"There might not be a bigger boom-or-bust candidate under center. After a simultaneously manic and determined debut, Williams' next steps may come down to how he meshes with new coach Ben Johnson.
"Simultaneously manic and determined" is a new, and totally appropriate, way to describe Williams' rookie season. Having two head coaches and three offensive coordinators will do that to a young quarterback, and it had a domino effect on the entire Bears' offense.
From the 10,000-foot view, Johnson was hired to eliminate the chaos the Bears experienced last season. For Williams, that mostly means having a play-caller he trusts, and everything else can follow from there.
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By talent level, Williams not a bottom-half of the league starting quarterback. But he has to prove that on the field this year, and this Week 1 quarterback ranking shows just how much he has to prove before playing a meaningful game in his second season.