Windy City Gridiron
Did voters disrespect the young Bears quarterback by placing him so low on the list? Or was it justified?
Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams, the 2024 No. 1 overall pick, finished far from the top spot in this season’s Offensive Rookie of the Year voting.
Williams finished a distant tenth for the coveted award, which unsurprisingly went to Washington Commanders signal-caller Jayden Daniels after a season that saw him lead his team to the NFC Championship, and tallied just two overall points from fourth-place votes.
Three quarterbacks from the 2024 class — Daniels (first place, 495 points), Bo Nix (third place, 153), and Drake Maye (eighth place, 9) — all finished ahead of Williams despite the latter being taken before all the others in last April’s draft.
First off, let’s be clear that none of this means Williams won’t go on to have a better career than the rest of these players, especially now that Ben Johnson is in town to shepherd along his development.
But if we’re being objective, Williams probably finished right where he was supposed to in the end.
Though Williams finished third among the rookie QB class in passing yards (3,541) and touchdowns (20), he ranked fourth behind his counterparts in stats like completion percentage (62%) and passer rating (87.8).
The advanced statistics told a similar story: Williams was last on the (eligible) first-round QB totem pole in EPA/play (-0.026), Pro Football Focus’ overall grades (67.1), and PFF’s passer grade (62.9).
Also, for those who question the placement of Maye above Williams in particular ...
As someone who watched both play every week, Maye’s film was clearly better (not that Williams was awful or anything) despite him starting five fewer games and not having the raw stats to back that up.
Additionally, while both played in bad situations, Williams’ problems were more due to coaching than roster support. In contrast, Maye managed to flash repeatedly with both coaching and the supporting cast being a problem. Only three players (arguably) on the Patriots offense besides Maye would’ve started on another NFL team — right guard Michael Onwenu, tight end Hunter Henry, and running back Rhamondre Stevenson. Williams didn’t have it that bad in comparison.
That brings us to an important realization when it comes to these types of votes: narratives are powerful. Williams had what appeared to be a great situation, but his team underperformed badly while he struggled to live up to his (unfair) superhero billing. Meanwhile, guys like Daniels and Nix, who weren’t expected to do much, had better statistical seasons, and their teams performed better.
The good news: it’s time for a new story in Chicago, and hopefully Johnson and a competent coaching staff will help get Williams on a path to a much bigger prize: NFL MVP — or even Super Bowl championship.
