New Caleb Williams Comparison Will Leave Bears Fans Cringing in Disbelief

Chicago Bears fans are hoping -- maybe praying -- for a breakout season from second-year QB Caleb Williams in 2025. Sure, Williams had a fine rookie season after being selected with the first overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, but now that he'll have new head coach Ben Johnson calling plays, the first 4,000-yard passer in franchise history is expected.

But a new comp for Williams' ceiling in 2025 won't have Bears Nation fired up. In fact, it might make them nauseous.

Pro Football Focus predicted the ceiling and floor for every second-year quarterback this season, and Williams' max upside was none other than Green Bay Packers QB Jordan Love.

Yuck.

As for his floor? PFF can't be any more brutal with their prediction: a bust.

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"His 63.5 PFF passing grade was the worst of the five first-round quarterbacks who saw action in 2024, as were his 54.7% accurate rate, 23.2% uncatchable-pass rate and 26.1% pressure-to-sack rate," John Kosko wrote. "All of the issues we saw in his final season of college football showed up in his rookie campaign.

"Granted, top prospects who don't put it all together as rookies are still capable of turning things around — Jared Goff is one notable example, and Bryce Young appears to have turned a corner ahead of 2025 — but struggling as badly as Williams did usually does not end well. Still, he has the talent and one of the best supporting casts in the NFL to turn it around in 2025."

It's quite the fall for Williams, who was often compared to Patrick Mahomes as an NFL draft prospect.

Love, meanwhile, seemed to regress last season after breaking out in 2023 to the tune of 4,159 yards, 32 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. His yardage dropped to 3,389 in 2024 (in two fewer starts) and 25 TDs, but what was worse was his YOLO mentality that led to dangerous near-interceptions and head-scratching decisions.

If Williams' max upside is Jordan Love? The Bears don't have the quarterback they thought they had.

As for that downside? A bust? I'd argue that that risk is inherent in every first-round quarterback, and there was nothing about Caleb Williams' rookie season that suggests his risk is any greater than his first-round draftmates. Sure, Jayden Daniels was incredible as a rookie, and Bo Nix was impressive, but neither quarterback is guaranteed the same level of success in 2025.

We're still way too early in any of last year's first-round quarterbacks to suggest a bust risk is higher in one than the others. And if any team improved their roster the most around their quarterback, it's the Chicago Bears.

Williams will have his breakout season this year. He has to. Otherwise, noise like this won't go away anytime soon.