Why Analysts Are Putting Caleb Williams Among The NFL Greatest Quarterbacks After Just One Breakout Season
He went 11-6 in his second season, led the Bears to the playoffs for the first time in years, and finished in the top six among fantasy quarterbacks. Caleb Williams has not just silenced his doubters.
The conversation around Caleb Williams shifted somewhere between December and January, and it has not shifted back. After a difficult rookie campaign in 2024 that produced 3,541 yards, 20 touchdowns and six interceptions on a roster that was not built to support him, Williams entered 2025 under new head coach Ben Johnson and turned in one of the most impressive second-year performances the league has seen in the modern era. The Bears went 11-6, made the playoffs, and Williams finished as a top-six fantasy quarterback. ESPN's Ben Solak ranked him the eighth-best quarterback in the entire NFL entering the 2026 season, ahead of Jordan Love and Jared Goff.
Sports Illustrated slotted him 21st in their early 2026 NFL Top 100 projection, a ranking that was considered aggressive when it was published and became less controversial with every week that passed. The phrase they used was significant: a quarterback capable of winning MVPs and Super Bowls.
What He Actually Did in 2025
The numbers are not the whole story, but they are where the argument starts. Williams completed passes at an elite rate under pressure, displayed the improvisation the scouting reports at USC had promised, and did it all in the first year of a new offensive system. The Bears beat Green Bay in overtime on a Williams game-winning touchdown throw that circulated widely and pushed him into the MVP conversation at DraftKings with odds of +7500 in mid-December. Johnson's play-calling and an upgraded offensive line gave him the structure he lacked in 2024. He used it.
What Comes Next and Why It Matters
The debate about Williams entering 2026 is not whether he is good. It is how good the ceiling is. Footballguys described him as a potential league winner in fantasy formats while noting that his draft price does not yet reflect his upside. ESPN's Solak raised the comparison nobody expected so soon: if Williams keeps developing his weaknesses, he could be the NFC's version of Patrick Mahomes.
He is 24 years old, entering his third NFL season, and has a coach who was hired specifically to build a system around him. The Bears have not had a quarterback like this since the franchise began. The analysts who said so first are starting to look prescient.
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