Bear Digest

Bold 2025 NFL prediction hints at turbulent season for Bears QB Caleb Williams

Chicago Bears QB Caleb Williams better have thick skin in 2025, especially if this season prediction proves to be true.
Bryan Perez|
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Caleb Williams has been groomed to be an NFL quarterback for most of his life, and when the Chicago Bears made him the first overall pick in the 2025 Draft, he proved he was capable of handling the pressure and turmoil that comes along with a dysfunctional organization.

Williams' rookie season was far from a disappointment, regardless of what's trying to be pushed in the national narrative. He set the NFL record for the most consecutive passes by a rookie without an interception, and he threw for the fifth-most yards in a single season in the history of the Bears.

Sure, he wasn't as spectacular as Washington Commanders' star Jayden Daniels, but one great year doesn't make a career, and Williams will have every chance to prove in 2025 -- under the watchful eye of Ben Johnson -- that he is the generational quarterback that was suggested to be during the run-up to the 2024 draft.

But Williams better have really thick skin this year. His every move will be dissected; every errant throw criticized. He was already dealing with that level of hyper-focus from the media, but it'll be turned up a notch now that the soon-to-be-released book, "American Kings: A Biography of the Quarterback," has some not-so-great coverage of Williams and hoping he'd end up somewhere other than Chicago.

In fact, Williams's comments were so -- controversial? -- that Sports Illustrated's Connor Orr predicted the noise won't die down anytime soon during the 2025 season.

"The excerpt from Seth Wickersham’s book American Kings about Williams wanting to circumnavigate the draft and avoid playing for the Bears wasn’t said by the dad of a premier quarterback lightly," Orr wrote in his 100 Bold Predictions for the 2025 NFL season. "The Bears and new (first-time) head coach Ben Johnson are on notice. Williams clearly wants a hands-on experience, as evidenced by his complaining about a lack of help watching film last year."

Despite Williams's team making their concerns about the Bears somewhat well known before the 2024 NFL Draft, the details offered in the book, namely Williams's desire to play for the Minnesota Vikings, have amplified the drama.

Still, it feels like much ado about nothing. Williams has been a consummate professional since coming to Chicago, and he's already impressed the coaching staff with his buy-in with their program.

The only way Caleb Williams will silence his critics is with top-tier on-field play in 2025. The sooner he gets to that level of consistent dominance, the sooner all of this nonsense will end.

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Bryan Perez
BRYAN PEREZ

Bryan Perez founded and operated Bears Talk, a Chicago sports blog. Prior to that, he covered the Bears for USA Today’s Bears Wire and NBC Sports Chicago. In addition to his Chicago Bears coverage, Perez is a respected member of NFL Draft media and was a past winner of The Huddle's Mock Draft competition. Bryan's past life includes time as a Northeast scout for the CFL's Ottawa Redblacks.

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