Subscribe
Follow Us
On paper, Caleb Williams' rookie season went relatively well; he threw for 3,500 yards, 20 touchdowns, and only 6 interceptions. However, many of Williams' fears in getting drafted by the Chicago Bears came to fruition, and it led to midseason the firings of head coach Matt Eberflus and offensive coordinator Shane Waldron.
Williams, more so than nearly any player since Eli Manning in 2004, was willing to do just about anything to avoid playing for the Bears. And a reason for that, according to ESPN's Jeremy Fowler and Turron Davenport, could have been that he had not heard great things about Waldron, in particular.
“A source with direct knowledge of Williams' predraft process said Williams' fact-finding mission about his new team soured him on Waldron, who was the Seattle Seahawks' offensive coordinator before joining Chicago in January 2024,” Fowler and Davenport wrote. “Among chief concerns, the source said, were whether personalities would jell and how Waldron would use him.
“‘Whoever he talked to in Seattle didn't give him the best reviews,' the source said. Waldron, now on Jacksonville's staff, declined to comment for this story.”
Waldron was fired by the Bears nine games into the season; at the time, Chicago had one of the worst offenses in the NFL. In his final game on the job, Waldron oversaw an offense that gained 142 total yards (a season low), 69 passing yards (second-lowest of the year), and 11 first downs (tied for a season low).
Under Waldron, Williams completed 60.5% of his passes, threw for 1,785 yards, 9 touchdowns, and 5 interceptions. Following Waldron's dismissal and Thomas Brown's ascension to offensive coordinator (and eventually interim head coach), Williams completed nearly 65% of his passes, threw for about 20 yards more per game, and tossed 11 touchdowns and only one interception despite winning just one game in that timespan.
This season, there is considerable hope that Williams will be able to show what he is truly capable of now that Ben Johnson is the head coach. Johnson comes to Chicago after three highly successful years with the Detroit Lions, during which he tutored Jared Goff, who transformed from a disappointing first overall pick with the Los Angeles Rams to finishing top five in NFL MVP voting this past season.
Johsnon, Williams, and the Bears open their season on Sept. 8 at home vs. the Minnesota Vikings.
