Sportsnaut
When Caleb Williams was preparing for the 2024 NFL Draft, he was being touted as a generational prospect thanks to his athleticism and ability to release the ball from unique arm angles on the run. He’s started 19 games (a small sample size), yet his 5-14 record hasn’t inspired much confidence.
Of course, first-year head coach Ben Johnson was hired to help iron out the flaws in the 23-year-old quarterback’s game. Two weeks in, and Williams still looks largely like the same player who struggled by being sacked more than any other QB in 2024.
Recently, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler and Dan Graziano were speculating on which NFL QB could be the next one to get benched. While others, like Cleveland’s Joe Flacco came up first, Fowler circled back to the possibility of the Bears benching Williams if the offense can’t find a spark sometime soon.
Benching a No. 1 pick, just over a year after making him the next face of the franchise would certainly come as a shock. But it’s not like it hasn’t happened before.
In fact, we saw this play out with the Carolina Panthers just last season after Bryce Young struggled to start the year too. First-year head coach Dave Canales pulled Young from the lineup in favor of veteran Andy Dalton, only to re-insert Young four games later. It seemed to have a positive effect in Carolina, so seeing a similar story play out in Chicago wouldn’t exactly be unprecedented.
Related: 2025 NFL QB Rankings: How Does Caleb Williams Stack Up?
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