The Chicago Bears went to great lengths to put Caleb Williams in a position to succeed this season.
They hired offensive-minded head coach Ben Johnson, added more firepower, improved the offensive line, and kept their core pieces together.
However, that may not have been enough to guarantee a second-year leap from the quarterback.
According to analyst Mike Sando, the narrative around Williams hasn’t been positive lately, and some believe he might not be the franchise QB he was expected to be as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.
Talking on the Ross Tucker Podcast, Sando said Williams isn’t where he’s supposed to be in his development.
“I thought the conversation around Caleb Williams was more negative than I expected. There was a lot of people talking about whether he could process the game fast enough. One person even thought it was alarming what he saw. Instead of that place being like, ‘Oh my god, you’re actually going to coach the Bears. You get Caleb Williams.’ It was more of, ‘Yeah, Caleb Williams there isn’t the deal-breaker, but it’s also not the golden ticket that people thought it was,'” Sando said.
“I thought the conversation around Caleb Williams was more negative than I expected…”
“There was a lot of people talking about whether he could process the game fast enough…one person even thought it was alarming what he saw.”@SandoNFL shares concerns about the Bears… pic.twitter.com/aJkANzqCfz
— Ross Tucker Podcast (@RossTuckerPod) August 27, 2025
Williams’ ability to process the game quickly enough has perhaps been his biggest issue.
Truth be told, it’s hard to blame Williams for his rookie-year struggles.
He showed flashes of the talent and traits that scouts liked so much, but he played behind a subpar offensive line and had one of the worst play-calling situations in the league.
Nevertheless, he also made questionable decisions, which was also an issue in college, and he’s not going to get away with cross-body throws in the NFL.
Of course, he’s likely going to be worth the wait, but the pressure is mounting in Chicago, and it’ll be interesting to see how he deals with those expectations.
NEXT: Rome Odunze Sends Message To Caleb Williams' Critics
