Caleb Williams: Bears’ Future Franchise QB: Rookie Season Shows Promise, But Room for Growth

The Chicago Bears had high expectations coming into the 2024 season and after finishing the year with a 5-12 record, things are certainly disappointing, but don’t think for a second the future looks any less brighter for this team.

A lot of major changes are coming for this organization, starting with a new head coach and coaching staff as we head further into 2025, but one thing is clear after the 2024 season, the Bears have their guy at quarterback.

It wasn’t the ideal rookie season for Caleb Williams, the team’s rookie quarterback selected with the first overall pick, but he proved he has the one trait needed to become great in this league and it only took 17 games.

In those 17 games, Williams shattered multiple franchise rookie records and finished fifth on the team’s all-time single-season passing chart. The guy’s a rookie, yes there’s going to be things to improve on going into his second season and hell the rest of his career, but what he did in 2024 was special.

The most impressive thing Williams showed during his rookie season had nothing to do with the records or numbers on the stat sheet. It was his mentality on and off the field, in the harshest of environments, and that’s something you can’t teach.

Off the field, Williams dealt with a lot, even before taking his first snap with the Bears, whether it was from the media, the fans, or anyone else. On the field, Williams had to go through losing his first NFL offensive coordinator, losing his first NFL head coach, while being sacked the third-most times in a season in NFL history. Not many players can be able to mentally withstand that, much less as a rookie.

The other thing that mentality helped with was overcoming the odds on the field. During his first 17 games, Williams led his team into scoring positions on the final drive of regulation against five eventual playoff teams. Only one of those ended with a win, and it was in his final game in Week 18 against the Green Bay Packers.

When the lights shined the brightest, Williams largely delivered in big ways by making big plays when it mattered most.

“He’s got a killer instinct,” interim head coach Thomas Brown said after the Week 18 win. “He’s really probably better in those moments than he is just on normal down and distances. Which, there’s a gap to be bridged when it comes to that. There’s something to be said when it comes to critical moments and not panicking, not giving up, and trying to find ways to win games.”

That’s the kind of guy you want leading your team. Yes, he has his own flaws that need to be addressed this offseason but it’s hard to not watch this guy play late in games and see the greatness.

This team has a lot of work to do in order to build around Williams, and he himself has a role in that in order to get things turned around in Chicago.

“I think my role in that is seeing where I can grow” Williams explained. “Whether it’s on the field or off the field, in the locker room, or anything like that. Off the field, maybe having less people around, less distractions, less time for other things. On the field, being able to decipher things faster, being able to be more accurate, being able to have more game-winning drives. Whatever it takes is where I’m at for myself.”

“Being able to watch and see what goes on during this first year was big for me,” Williams added. “Being able to sit back and learn how to lead in this league… I think next year will be a big jump for me and I’m really excited about it.”

The future still looks bright in Chicago with Williams leading the way and good things will be here before we know it as long as Williams and the entire organization learn from everything that transpired this season.