Caleb Williams is not the finished product yet, but the Chicago Bears have already seen enough to know what kind of difference he can make.
Williams has said he wants to clean up the inconsistencies in his game in 2026, and that’s the next step. But the bigger takeaway from 2025 is that those flaws didn’t stop the Bears from having great success last season. If anything, the way Chicago kept winning while Williams was still ironing out the rough edges only adds to the optimism around what comes next.
Jeremy Fowler recently dug into some of the concerns around Williams, and the numbers show why some voters hesitated. His 20.2% off-target rate ranked 37th out of 38 quarterbacks in 2025. Fowler also noted that his tendency to keep plays alive and throw the ball away factors into that mark.
Still, the appeal is obvious. As one veteran NFL defensive coach put it, "Wildly erratic," a veteran NFL defensive coach said.
"Doesn't always take the layups and still needs to mature into the position. [He] has some of those 'what is he doing?'
plays. But he also makes plays only he and Mahomes can make.
[He] can throw from any angle, deceptively fast when forced to scramble and he's got the 'it' factor in crunch time."
That’s the tension with Williams right now. He’s not perfect, and nobody’s pretending he is.
But he already has the kind of talent that can flip a franchise’s trajectory, and for Chicago, that matters more than a few messy moments along the way. His strengths are carrying more weight than his weaknesses, and the expectation is that the weak spots will keep shrinking as he grows into the position.
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That matters because the Trojans are sorting through a crowded mix of veterans, transfers and freshmen at corner, with playing time there looking very much up for grabs. Sermons is suddenly part of that conversation, and for a player who came in with plenty of upside, the question now is not whether he belongs in the mix but how quickly he can force his way toward the front of it. [Read more 🡒]
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Goodmans appeal has always been the blend of size, athleticism and intelligence that made him such a prized recruit, and Penn States staff has seen enough growth to trust him with a major job this early. Offensive line assistant Ryan Clanton has been especially encouraged by the way Goodman has transformed physically and handled the details of the position, which makes him more than just a future project. For USC, the challenge is obvious: the lineman it once coveted is no longer a name from the recruiting trail, but a real part of the matchup. [Read more 🡒]