Bear Digest

A Chicago Bears QB in Pro Bowl games? Caleb Williams makes the list

One NFL analyst sees Caleb Williams as capable of postseason play regardless of the playoffs, and calls Ben Johnson a major reason.
Gene Chamberlain|
Could a postseason path be looming for Bears quarterback Caleb Williams?
Could a postseason path be looming for Bears quarterback Caleb Williams? | Daniel Bartel-Imagn Images

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Despite extensive inane criticism of Caleb Williams based on last season, it seems he did enough to impress at least one analyst who sees him as potential Pro Bowl material this season.

Not that the Pro Bowl itself carries intrinsic value as nothing more than a collection of children's game, but it sure beats being labeled a bust as so many offseason hit jobs have done with the Bears quarterback.

SI.com's Conor Orr groups Williams in with nine other young players as possible first-time Pro Bowl players for 2025, if there actually was a Pro Bowl game. 

"When Williams got the ball out on time, he was spectacular last season, even with a system that was dreadfully conceived," Orr wrote. "His stat line, which included 20 touchdowns and six interceptions, is the basis of an elite quarterback statistical ceiling."

His interception percentage of 1.1% was not only the lowest interception percentage for all the rookie quarterbacks who threw at least 30 passes, it as lower than every NFL QB except Justin Herbert and Lamar Jackson. Williams threw 82 more passes than Jayden Daniels and still had three fewer interceptions and a better interception percentage than the Washington QB (1.9%). Bo Nix threw nine more touchdown passes than Williams but also threw twice as many interceptions.

It's been suggested—without much intelligence—how Williams simply threw checkdowns to keep his interception level low. A Pro Football Focus study into the league's "Checkdown Charlies," proved this wasn't the case at all and that Williams actually had the league's lowest checkdown rate (7.1%). That isn't necessarily good either, but it still makes a point about how he was putting the ball out there for important targets and bigger gains.

Orr prefaces his comments with the acknowledgment that Williams won the head coach lottery when it comes to playing for someone with creativity in the passing game. 

"As we mentioned before, the back end of the NFC Pro Bowl QB lineup is 100% up for grabs, and there’s no reason to believe a player—who will also benefit from the now-constant threat of high-EPA trick plays thanks to Johnson’s arrival—isn’t going to pick apart defenses that are more on guard," Orr concludes.

Ultimately Williams earning Pro Bowl honors is fine but it's not what the franchise is pursuing.

After all, Mitchell Trubisky was the last Bears Pro Bowl quarterback and he never got past the first round of the playoffs in two attempts.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.