Caleb Williams looked like an elite quarterback in 2025, even with plenty of turbulence around him in Ben Johnson’s offense. The Chicago Bears passer piled up nearly 4,000 passing yards and finished with 31 total touchdowns against just seven interceptions, numbers that tell you how productive he was even if the season came with obvious accuracy issues.
What stood out most about Williams last year was the kind of throws he was willing to make. He had a knack for creating explosive plays, and some of those came on risky passes that happened to break in his favor. That style helped define his 2025 season, especially while he was still absorbing everything the Bears were throwing at him.
This offseason, though, the message from Chicago’s coaching staff has been about trimming the unnecessary flash. Bears quarterbacks coach J.T. Barrett said Williams needed to do the little things right, and Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer picked up on the same theme in his latest reporting.
"One of the best quotes of the spring to help frame the summer and fall came from Bears QBs coach J.T. Barrett, who said that his goal this offseason was to show Caleb Williams that, 'We don’t have to work as hard for our money.'
Last summer, Ben Johnson, Declan Doyle and Barrett fed Williams through a fire hose, beating him down with information to build him back up. This summer, I bet we’ll see more of the easy-money things Barrett references, to show the quarterback he doesn’t need to do as much of the spectacular to play winning football."
That shift matters because Williams’ best moments have often come when he’s playing loose, freelancing, and turning broken or messy situations into something useful. The Bears gave him room for that while he was still learning the offense, and there were times when improvisation was the only way to salvage a play.
But Johnson, Barrett and new offensive coordinator Press Taylor are not trying to live in that world forever. Chicago has designed plays that depend on timing and patience, and Williams made progress with that in 2025. Even so, there were still snaps where he chose to bail early, running or scrambling before the pocket had fully done its work.
That’s one habit he’ll need to clean up if he’s going to move beyond the 58% completion percentage he posted last year. The receivers didn’t exactly make life easy, either, with drops costing him chances to pad his production.
The bigger picture is simple: this should help Williams. A little less chaos and a little more structure ought to sharpen his game and make him a more accurate, more polished passer.
At the same time, Chicago can’t flatten out what makes him dangerous in the first place. Williams is at his best when he has just enough freedom to trust his arm and make a decision at the last possible second.
The Bears will have to strike that balance in 2026. If they do, Williams may look different - and better - in a way that could put him in the MVP conversation by season’s end.
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What makes the change so notable is how much turnover it reflects. Kevin Byard came in on a short-term pact after an All-Pro season that some around the league viewed with skepticism, while Jaquan Briskers stint was derailed by injuries and uneven play. Now the Bears are asking Bryant to stabilize the present and Thieneman to grow into a bigger role, leaving one of the defenses most frustrating positions suddenly looking like it might finally have a plan. [Read more 🡒]
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Benedet at least has a lane to make this interesting, which is more than most depth linemen get this time of year. Jones still looks like the favorite, but the Bears need stability on the edge and the job is now set up as a real camp battle, with Benedet trying to turn his opportunity into something more than a temporary mention on the depth chart. [Read more 🡒]
These 4 Bears Backups Could Decide How Far 2026 Goes
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Cole Kmet also sits near the center of the conversation, with his offensive role likely to expand if Colston Loveland is unavailable, while Neville Gallimore was brought in to add needed defensive line depth. Then there is Zavion Thomas, whose speed gives Chicago another flexible piece to consider on special teams and offense, a useful sort of insurance if the Bears need answers from unexpected places. [Read more 🡒]