2025 fantasy football: The pros and cons of drafting Chicago Bears QB, Caleb Williams

Quick question, and be honest, here: Based on his performance in his 2024 rookie season, will sophomore Chicago Bears field general Caleb Williams be, as many believed, a generational quarterback?

If you are, indeed, telling yourself the truth, that answer would be, Yeah, not so much.

Question #2: Based on his performance in his 2024 rookie season, will second-year Washington Commander signal caller Jayden Daniels be a generational quarterback?

Maybe, maybe not, but considering the digits we saw in their respective rookie campaigns, Daniels has a better shot than Williams. Check it out:

Caleb Williams and Jayden Daniels for the next 15 years pic.twitter.com/G33YYJQoGh
— Nick Whalen (@_NickWhalen) October 14, 2024

Team Wins:

Daniels: 12

Williams: 5

Pass Attempts:

Daniels: 480

Williams: 562

Completed Passes:

Daniels: 331

Williams: 351

Completion Percentage:

Daniels: 69.0%

Williams: 62.5%

Passing Yards:

Daniels: 3,568

Williams: 3,541

Passing Touchdowns:

Daniels: 25

Williams: 20

Interceptions:

Daniels: 9

Williams: 6

Passer Rating:

Daniels: 100.1

Williams: 87.8

Total QBR:

Daniels: 70.6

Williams: 46.7

Rushing Yards:

Daniels: 891

Williams: 489

Rushing Touchdowns:

Daniels: 6

Williams: 0

Sacks Taken:

Daniels: 47

Williams: 68

Fumbles:

Daniels: 5

Williams: 10

But let’s take a beat before we put a wrap on this portion of our discussion.

Now that we have some distance from the Bears’ craptastic 2024 season, we can engage with the numbers in a more objective fashion. And objectively speaking, Williams and Daniels are closer than you might have believed.

This isn’t to say that Williams is, indeed, generational. But it is safe to say that the USC product might be a slick addition to your 2025 fantasy football team—possibly as good, if not better than Daniels.

The Case For

Idk how Ben Johnson will be as a leader but I do know this: going from Shane Waldron and Thomas Brown to him is like going from gas station sushi to A5 Wagyu

Will be interesting to see what the Bears do with their OL tho because for Ben to operate at maximum capacity he’ll need…
— Brandon Carney (@BenchwarmerBran) January 20, 2025

We don’t have official proof of this, but the eye test tells us that in terms of the quarterback position, the 2024 Bears coaching staff prioritized ball protection over, well, pretty much everything.

To Williams’ credit, he protected the rock as well as anybody in the league, finishing third in the NFL in interception percentage (1.1%), trailing only Justin Herbert (0.6%) and Lamar Jackson (0.8%)—and nine spots ahead of the aforementioned Mr. Daniels (1.6%).

You know who else was behind Williams, interception-percentage-wise? Josh Allen (2024’s QB2), Joe Burrow (QB3), Baker Mayfield (QB4), and Jared Goff (QB6), that’s who. So in a fantasy league in which you’re significantly penalized for interceptions, Williams will be elite.

And then there's Williams' new system.

As noted above, Goff was a stellar fantasy option in 2024…and he racked up his points in a scheme drawn up by former Detroit Lions OC and current Chicago Bears HC Ben Johnson.

Johnson’s presence in Chicago will, in and of itself, amp up Williams’ fantasy value, as will the addition of rookies TE Colston Loveland and WR Luther Burden III. The fact that Williams will again have D.J. Moore and Rome Odunze in his back pocket—both of whom are undoubtedly eager to improve on their just-okay 2024—won’t hurt.

However, the most notable factor in a potential Williams year two jump is the wildly improved offensive line.

The only guaranteed starter returning from last year’s Dumpster fire is Darnell Wright; newcomers Joe Thuney (LG), Drew Dalman (C), and Jonah Jackson (RG) are guaranteed Opening Day starters, with veteran Braxton Jones and rookie Ozzy Trapilo fighting it out for the tackle spot opposite Wright.

New Chicago Bears guard Jonah Jackson applauds the toughness Caleb Williams displayed in his rookie season, notes the talent of the former Heisman Trophy winner.

Willians was sacked a league-high 68 times in 2024, tied for the third-most in NFL history.https://t.co/Z3I5AwBKZA
— Kendell Hollowell (@KHollowell_) April 14, 2025

Regardless of how the offensive trenches shake out, it’ll be way, way better than last year’s snafu, giving Williams a shot to take a step or two closer to generationality.

The Case Against

The biggest concern for Williams—and, for that matter, fantasy owners—has to be the Bears’ lack of an A+ running game.

D’Andre Swift heads into the season as Chicago’s RB1, something that excites exactly zero fantasy owners. The former Georgia Bulldog finished last season as the league’s 19th-ranked fantasy option at the running back position, almost 150 fantasy points (yikes) behind NFL leader Saquon Barkley. Aside from a couple of nifty screen pass runs, Swift did absolutely nothing to inspire confidence in his ability to help your fake football squad.

Bears got some things right in the off season talent wise. But letting David Montgomery go and signing D'Andre Swift was a def. fumble. Can't be a serious franchise and be cheap.
— Keith Murphy (@murphdogg29) December 8, 2024

(FWIW, RB2 Roschon Johnson’s 2024 was messed up due to concussion issues, but he finished the year tied with Swift for the team lead in rushing tuddies with six, and considering he had 198 less carries than Swift, that’s saying something. And that something isn’t good.)

The Bears added rookie rusher Kyle Monangai to the mix, but you can’t expect a seventh-round pick to transform an offense. He should help somewhat…but that’s all, just somewhat.

The other question is how well—and how quickly—Williams and Johnson will gel. Unlike pretty much every Bears HC ever, Johnson will gear his playbook to his quarterback rather than his quarterback to his playbook, so there’s legitimate optimism a quality partnership will emerge—but we won’t be sure until we see how things look during Weeks 1 through 4.

For now, all we can do is guess.

To Draft or Not To Draft

In their April 30 cheat sheet, Fantasy Pros reported that Williams’ average draft position (ADP) has him at a respectable QB13, ahead of Jordan Love (QB15), C.J. Stroud (QB18), and Tua Tagovailoa (QB20)…but considering Chicago’s across-the-board improvements,13 seems low, as some of the options being selected earlier in season-long drafts are facing obstacles aplenty:

Brock Purdy (QB11), for instance, lost fantasy beast Deebo Samuel, plus his WR1, Brandon Aiyuk, is coming off of knee surgery, and might not be ready for Week 1, which will have Purdy relying on George Kittle and Christian McCaffrey for the bulk of his fantasy points. Not optimal.

Jared Goff (QB10) won’t have Johnson drawing up his plays, which could lead to significant regression.

And Baker Mayfield (QB7) is an eternally up-and-down option who, despite rolling with one of the best wide receiver rooms in the league, is, as usual, a dart throw.

Caleb Williams in the red zone last year:

📌 268 Total Yards
📌 13 Touchdowns
📌 0 INTERCEPTIONS
📌 96.8 Rating

Absolutely lethal 🔥 pic.twitter.com/7Egb9j5QlD
— SleeperBears (@SleeperBears) March 31, 2025

Williams will likely be available late in your draft—ESPN’s April 29th mock draft has him going in the 12th round—and if you can land him after round ten, you might just steal yourself next year’s QB5.