Windy City Gridiron
I’m tired of it. Whether it is 670 the Score, or Collin Cowherd, or whoever you like in the national media, I’ve had it up to here with the Chicago Bears should “panic about Caleb” or “Caleb is a bust” or “we need to worry about Caleb” narrative in the national (and local) media.
To be clear, I’m not saying that we know with certainty that Caleb Williams is going to live up to his draft status and prove he should have been the #1 overall pick in 2024. What I’m saying is that, worry about Caleb William’s play should be based on Caleb Williams…well…play. And the narratives being promulgated in the national media about Caleb have little basis in anything he has done in practice.
What evidence do we have that Caleb is a bust, sitting here today in August of 2025? Well, we have his 2024 season, which had some amazing superlatives (set the rookie record for passes without an interception) and some serious negatives (67 sacks to lead the league). But all of that was under the previous regime – where Caleb had to endure a season – his rookie season – where he had three offensive coordinators and two head coaches. A season that saw him improve significantly in the second half of the season compared to the first half. A season capped by a final drive to beat the hated Green Bay Packers – a playoff team in 2024. And when we compare his season to the ‘average’ rookie QB season, and not to what Jayden Daniels did in his rookie season for the Washington Commanders, is any of that really cause for concern – let alone full blown panic that Caleb is a bust?
And what have we learned in the offseason and in training camp to give us cause to worry about Caleb’s long-term development? Well, he has been inconsistent in implementing a complicated and brand new offense thrown at him by his new head coach / offensive coordinator. Reports out of training camp have indicated that Caleb has had some good days and bad days. Is that…anything we wouldn’t have predicted before day one at training camp, given the circumstances? When his head coach had literally told Caleb and his teammates to become comfortable with being uncomfortable? Where his head coach has repeatedly stated that they threw everything and the kitchen sink at Caleb precisely to stress test him.
It seems to me that there is quite a bit of jumping on small bits of mostly irrelevant things, or hearkening back to last season like nothing has changed in the interim. We literally spend three days of media coverage on Caleb’s singular session, caught on tape, throwing at the nets and getting frustrated. We have spent several days dissecting the reasons he should have played in the first preseason game – all to construct a narrative built on sand and supposition. I don’t want to accuse anyone of just making stuff up...
