Caleb Williams facing major pressure as Chicago Bears' QB in 2025

Not all rookie seasons are created equal. Chicago Bears QB Caleb Williams proved that in 2024.

After being selected with the first overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, Williams' pro career began with expectations as high as any first-round quarterback who's entered the league in the last decade. He was, after all, dubbed a generational prospect.

And, in most years, Williams' rookie season would've been labeled a success. He threw for 3,541 yards, 20 touchdowns, and six interceptions. Sure, he wasn't perfect, and he experienced the highs and lows of most first-year QBs, but overall? Williams was impressive.

Unfortunately, the guy who was picked one selection later -- Jayden Daniels, who went second overall to the Washington Commanders -- was an instant superstar.

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The knee-jerk reaction to Daniels' elite season was to compare it to Williams' perfectly fine year and, of course, suggest that Daniels was the QB who should've been drafted No. 1 overall. And when that happens, pressure goes way up for the guy -- in this case, Williams -- who was the actual first pick.

So, yeah, Williams already had a lot to prove in 2025 even before the Chicago Bears made such a massive offseason commitment to him. The hiring of Ben Johnson as head coach and the investments made in the offensive line and skill players screamed of one thing: Williams must pan out; he must be the franchise quarterback that this franchise has been searching for for more than a century.

As a result, Caleb Williams was listed by Pro Football Focus as one of 10 players with the most to prove in the 2025 NFL season.

"Everything suggests that the circumstances will be better in Williams’ sophomore season," PFF's Zoltan Boday wrote. "He will operate under one of the highest-regarded play callers in new head coach Ben Johnson, and the Bears' offensive line has been strengthened with the arrivals of guards Jonah Jackson and Joe Thuney and center Drew Dalman. The team also selected tight end Colston Loveland in the first round."

The Bears have been a popular choice for industry analysts who are searching for a worst-to-first team. Indeed, Chicago's offseason improvements have been that extreme. And it's why Williams, who will captain the Bears through this transition to what's expected to be high-level offensive football, must now do his part.

There won't be any excuses to make for Williams if he fails in 2025. Every move that GM Ryan Poles has made this offseason has been met with praise. He made the right coaching hire; he added the right offensive linemen; he made the correct picks in the 2025 draft.

Now, it'll come down to whether Williams is the right quarterback.