Following a disastrous rookie campaign, Caleb Williams has a chance to get back on track in Year 2 under a newly made coaching staff and loaded offense. All that is left to do is for him to prove why he was the No. 1 overall selection in last year’s draft.
This time a year ago, the Chicago Bears and their fan base were on pins and needles, waiting for the start of training camp. Optimism was at an all-time high after yet another offseason of big spending and the selection of two first-round picks, including Caleb Williams and Rome Odunze, in the Top 10. Many, including myself, said it was the best situation a No. 1 overall pick had ever been drafted into.
Following an up-and-down start that led to a (4-2) record heading into their Week 7 bye, it felt like everything was coming together. A Top 10 defense, an ascending offense that had blown out back-to-back opponents, and a quarterback who had strung together two impressive performances. For the first time in most fans’ lifetimes, it felt like the Bears finally got the quarterback decision right and surrounded him with enough talent.
Then Week 8 happened.
Williams struggled for most of the game and was severely outplayed by the quarterback, who was taken one pick after him. While the No. 1 overall pick looked erratic and uncomfortable playing in front of his hometown crowd, Jayden Daniels looked poised and confident, despite almost missing the game with multiple bruised ribs. Despite the rocky start, Williams led the Bears on what should have been a game-winning drive. The rookie looked in control. He was making quick decisions and flashing all of the traits everyone around the league expected to see when he was anointed a “generational talent.”
Moments after the Bears took the lead, disaster struck. In the matter of 13 seconds, the Washington Commanders threw two passes for 24 yards to get into realistic Hail Mary range. With six seconds remaining on the clock, the Bears looked frazzled. Multiple players looked confused as they were lining up, and cornerback Tyrique Stevenson infamously had his back to the start of the play as he taunted Commanders fans in the end zone.
In 24 seconds on the game clock, the Bears went from a surprise (5-2) team with momentum on their side to a (4-3) team that would lose 10 in a row on their way to multiple mid-season coaching firings. The culture that the old regime claimed to have cultivated was gone in one play. Former head coach Matt Eberflus would take no responsibility after the game, turning the locker room against him. Following back-to-back blowout losses in which the Bears’ offense managed just 12 total points, newly hired offensive coordinator Shane Waldron was fired. Three games after that, Eberflus’ late-game blunder in front of a national audience on Thanksgiving morning did him in.
Over three weeks, Thomas Brown went from passing game coordinator to offensive coordinator to head coach. The locker room had all but given up, and if it had not been for a last-second field goal in Week 18 at Lambeau Field, the Bears would have finished the season on an 11-game losing streak.
At the time, it was easy to question general manager Ryan Poles’ plan on the offensive line. Even so, adding a proven veteran in Keenan Allen, drafting Odunze, and signing D’Andre Swift seemed like a move in the right direction. As we collectively found out, the offensive line and play caller were the more critical factors. All in all, Williams’ rookie season from a statistical perspective wasn’t a complete disaster. He broke the franchise rookie records for passing yards and passing touchdowns. He finished the season with 20 touchdowns, just six interceptions, and an 87.8 rating. The developmental rollercoaster had more ups than downs, which was the most concerning aspect. Despite being the first of six quarterbacks taken in the first round, a strong argument can be made that he had the worst season of the four quarterbacks who started 10-plus games. Two rookies made the playoffs, and just one (Drake Maye) finished with a worse record. By all accounts, Williams’ rookie season was an organizational failure.
Fast forward to January, when the Bears’ extensive coaching search came to an abrupt end. The most obvious target all along was none other than a division rival’s offensive coordinator. Ben Johnson had taken over a struggling Lions offense and turned them into the best offense in football. Once a relative unknown, Johnson became the apple of the Bears’ eye. After interviewing 19 reported candidates, fans appeared to be in for a long wait as the Lions were the favorites to win the NFC and go to the Super Bowl. Just as the Commanders had taken the Bears’ season away in Week 8, they pounded the Lions in Detroit for their second-straight road playoff win. That game left the NFL world shocked and Bears fans feeling conflicted.
On the one hand, Johnson was free to conduct in-person interviews with teams and make decisions as quickly as possible. On the other hand, the quarterback taken right after Williams was one game away from a Super Bowl appearance. By then, it was clear that Daniels was a runaway for the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year. The additional salt on the wound would have come with another Commanders’ win, that luckily for the sanity of this fan base, never materialized.
Despite the Bears’ tendency to overcomplicate a young quarterback’s development, the blueprint was clear: Hire an offensive-minded head coach, and if you don’t, you better not miss on the offensive coordinator. Coming into last season, Washington’s offensive line, on paper, was one of the worst in the league. Even without the young hot-shot offensive head coach, Dan Quinn was able to pry Kliff Kingsbury away from the Las Vegas Raiders. Remember, Washington wasn’t exactly known as a quarterback developmental factory before Daniels’s outstanding rookie year.
The lessons learned for the Bears and their handling of young quarterbacks range back longer than most fans care to acknowledge. Since the departure of Jay Cutler alone, the Bears have drafted three quarterbacks in the first round over nine years. Mitchell Trubisky was clearly the wrong pick. Justin Fields was placed in a difficult situation, with a coaching staff that showed little interest in addressing his red flags from Ohio State. Caleb Williams was supposed to be the one who broke the cycle. Had they fired Eberflus a year earlier, things might have been different last year, but they didn’t, which necessitated the offseason fans just experienced.
With all of the franchise’s past scars on full display, they found a way to convince Johnson to take the job. The first, and most significant, step to reversing the damage done in 2024 has been accomplished. Johnson would assemble an impressive coaching staff around him in the coming days and weeks ahead. Bringing over receivers coach Atwan Randle-El was good to see. Still, his ability to collaborate with defensive coordinator Dennis Allen and recruit other proven position coaches to join him in Chicago is invaluable, especially for a first-time head coach.
Philosophically, Johnson’s vision for this team became clear the first time he stepped in front of a microphone.
- Build up the trenches: Check.
- Surround Williams with more weapons: Check.
- Tear him down to the studs and rebuild him back up: In progress.
The acquisition period started off with a bang. Shortly after the Kansas City Chiefs franchise-tagged Trey Smith, the Bears pivoted. The Tuesday before free agency, they traded a sixth-round pick for veteran Jonah Jackson. Less than 24 hours later, they acquired one of the best interior offensive linemen in the league with Joe Thuney for a 2026 fourth-round selection (they’ve since recouped). The fun didn’t stop there, though. Less than an hour into the negotiation period, Chicago locked in center Drew Dalman. In six days, the Bears added three plus-starters to the interior of their offensive line. The rest of free agency was relatively dull for the offense. They did add receivers Olamide Zaccheaus and Devin Duvernay, but only as depth pieces.
In April’s draft, the pursuit of their offensive overhaul didn’t slow down. They spent their top three selections on that side of the ball. First came tight end Colston Loveland at No. 10 overall. Despite many believing that Tyler Warren was the top option available, Johnson and Poles believe Loveland’s ability as a pass catcher and seam-stretcher will hold more value in this offense. Next came receiver Luther Burden III at pick No. 39. In an ideal world, TreVeyon Henderson would have been the selection, but he was taken one pick earlier by the New England Patriots. Burden’s down year surely helped the Bears land one of the most talented receivers in the draft. After a trade down from No. 41 to No. 56, Chicago took offensive tackle Ozzy Trapilo, who has experience playing both tackle spots.
Suddenly, the Bears found themselves investing six premium offseason resources in the offense, alongside the best head coaching candidate, and an all-star coaching staff headed by offensive line coach Dan Roushar. It wasn’t enough for them to fill a few holes and claim they tried. No one would have batted an eye if they had added one pass catcher in the draft and rolled into the season with Olamide Zaccheaus as their WR3. Instead, they’ve actively replaced three starters on the offensive line (could be four depending on left tackle), added three speed threats at receiver, and a tight end with the profile to match a similar role to Detroit star tight end Sam LaPorta.
For the first time in as long as I can remember, the Bears talked a big game and delivered on it. It’s one thing to acknowledge needs, it’s another to address them. That’s not to say that the roster, or even the offensive depth chart, is complete, but the talent is readily apparent. As is the vision for this team.
This brings us back to the most important player on the roster—their quarterback: Caleb Williams.
The interior offensive line has three established plus-starters. The offense has an established multi-year 1,000 yard receiver in D.J. Moore, a Top 10 pick in Rome Odunze, a top 10 pick at tight end with Colston Loveland, an established above-average tight end in Cole Kmet, and the No. 39 overall pick in this year’s draft that was a consensus Top 30 talent in Luther Burden III. Additionally, the organization hired one of the top three offensive minds in football as their head coach, with Johnson, and a coaching staff featuring multiple proven position coaches and coordinators on both sides of the ball.
There’s no denying that the Bears (once again) failed their rookie quarterback. Sure, they added Keenan Allen and Odunze as receivers. Still, they didn’t take the offensive line seriously enough, and they kept a head coach who had shown no ability to learn from mistakes or hire the right offensive coordinator. Yet, it would be unfair to absolve Williams of any responsibility entirely.
According to Poles, Williams’ game-week preparation needs to improve. His overall accuracy needs work, as does his deep-ball accuracy. Although the offensive line was an issue, he assumes some responsibility for the 68 sacks he took in 2024. That mark was good for the third-most in NFL history. Sure, some of this can be attributed to the situation around him, but when things go as south as they did last year, everyone owns a share of the blame.
Then came the mid-May bombshell from Senior ESPN writer Seth Wickersham. It felt like all the momentum and good vibes from the offseason were gone for a moment. In Wickersham’s upcoming book “American Kings: A Biography of the Quarterback,” he focuses heavily on the Williams family and their feelings heading into last year’s draft. Caleb’s father, Carl Williams, has long been painted as a villain for wanting to change how rookies came into the league. In early January 2024, multiple reports began circulating about the Williams family’s reluctance to travel to Chicago. After all, who could have blamed them? The destructive history of this franchise’s quarterback development has been a topic of long-standing discussion. Ultimately, Caleb felt he could change the history books for the city of Chicago, despite his apprehension with last year’s coaching staff.
The hope of brighter days prevailed after a few tense moments of what fans already knew. On the surface, it truly feels like the Bears have gotten it right. They’ve got the stud head coach, a proven coaching staff, a vastly improved depth chart on both sides of the trenches, and a quarterback with all the talent to be one of the best in the league.
With the right support staff around him, the work will be up to Williams to put in. He’s shown the ability and drive to do so, but the NFL is always a new challenge for young players. With the worst season of his life behind him, the only way to go from here is up, right? The organization is still entirely behind him, as it should be – now with one of the better offensive depth charts in the league, he must take the next step and establish his presence for years to come. After all, the Bears’ future hinges on his development. The organization finally understood that and reacted appropriately for the first time in modern history. Now, all that is left to do is win games. The fear of failure can haunt an organization, but the taste of sustained success can make everything else feel like a distant memory. It’s OK to feel optimistic, Bears fans. Even with the sting of disappointment fresh in your mind, the future can be brighter than most living fans have ever experienced.