Caleb Williams struggles, as Bears and everyone else continue to wait for his star turn

From last year’s NFL Draft class, Jayden Daniels was an immediate superstar. Bo Nix might not quite be a superstar yet, but he was very good as a rookie.

Drake Maye had plenty of promising moments last season. Michael Penix Jr. has only a few starts but has multiple episodes of fourth quarter magic, though the Atlanta Falcons’ defense and special teams keep letting him down. J.J. McCarthy had his first big moment in his first start on Monday night.

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And then there’s Caleb Williams.

It’s probably fair to surmise that there’s less excitement for the start to Williams’ career than any other QB in the 2024 draft class (though Nix and Maye were both terrible on Sunday to start their second seasons). Williams, the first pick of last year’s draft by the Chicago Bears, hasn’t been terrible. But everyone is still waiting for him to level up and stay there.

There was a lot of excitement to see what Williams would do on Monday night, in his first game with Ben Johnson as his coach. It started great. He completed his first 10 passes. He ran for a touchdown. Then the Minnesota Vikings’ blitzes started getting to him. He was 11 of 25 after that hot start. He missed several throws that could have been completed and perhaps saved the win for the Bears. The Vikings, behind McCarthy’s huge fourth quarter, came back from an 11-point deficit to win.

It’s one game in a new, complicated offense, and it was against one of the most aggressive defenses in the NFL. Williams has plenty of time to deliver on his immense promise, and he has shown flashes of ability in his 18 starts.

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But he still hasn’t blossomed yet and while it would be unwise to give up on him already, it’s fair to be a little antsy.

Caleb Williams struggles on Monday

Johnson seemed to do his job on Monday. The Bears had receivers open on some creative play calls. Williams just didn’t execute.

That has been an issue. There have been too many missed throws.

The other big issue last season was that Williams would hold the ball too long and take too many sacks. He did seem to improve there on Monday. Despite being under a tremendous amount of pressure, thanks to the Vikings blitzing often as they usually do, Williams took only two sacks. He took a league high 68 last season.

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Johnson pointed out the positive, saying some plays Williams had were “top notch and I would put him up there with some of the best in the NFL.” But overall, it needs to improve.

“It was up and down,” Johnson said, via the team’s site. “We had mixed results.”

Williams still looking for consistency

Williams being the first pick in a major market desperate for a good quarterback, and ahead of other fantastic quarterbacks in his class ramps up the pressure a bit. Williams’ issues on Monday night will get more attention than Nix or Maye playing terribly on Sunday or even McCarthy looking a lot worse than Williams through three quarters.

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It was never realistic that it would look perfect for Williams in Week 1 anyway. Williams’ rookie year was mostly wasted because the Bears made the wrong choices on their coaching staff, and also didn’t address deficiencies in the offensive line well enough. Johnson has a complicated offense and it will take time for everyone to be comfortable in it.

But by the end of the season, there should be some signs of significant progress. Williams has plenty of skill-position talent around him. The offensive line was improved. Johnson is a respected play-caller. Williams is set up pretty well for success. There aren’t many excuses left for him if he doesn’t have a good 2025 season.

The first game wasn’t a great start to what is a crucial second season for Williams and the Bears. There’s still plenty of time for Williams to develop into the star he was expected to be when he was the top pick. There have been many hints of what Williams can do. It just has to happen, and on a consistent basis. We’ll continue to wait.