Regardless of whether it’s been perfect or not, it’s hard to argue that second-year Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams hasn’t improved his game in 2025. Just to list a few areas of improvement, he has:
more yards and touchdowns per game, a better pressure-to-sack ratio , more big-time throws, and fewer turnover-worthy plays. Perhaps not coincidentally, the Bears have more wins and are currently sitting atop the NFC North.
His offensive coordinator says part of the reason for this uptick in performance stems from the Bears challenging him heavily before the season.
While speaking to reporters on Thursday, Declan Doyle looked back on Williams’ intense training camp and trial by fire in new head coach Ben Johnson’s offense as the key to the young quarterback’s improving decisiveness and processing.
“I remember in either the offseason or training camp everybody was looking at us funny for throwing a bunch at him. We knew that this was kind of the vision of where we wanted to go,” Doyle said of Williams’ growth. “We were going to give him a lot of information that he was going to have to process and he was going to learn how to process it quicker and get better at it. He’s done that every week and that’s something that we’re still working through. But I think that he would tell you right now (that) he’s come a long way from the first day of the offseason until now, and we’ve still got a long way to go and that’s the message.”
To be sure, it’s not sunshine and roses for Williams and his supporting cast. His league-leading time to throw hasn’t led to many sacks (only 16 on the season), but it also hasn’t translated into much offensive productivity aside from his runs. There have been turn-downs, errant throws, and balls that should’ve been caught.
In particular, Doyle mentioned he’d like to see the offensive operation get better when it comes to throwing the ball down the field.
“When we have opportunities and shots down the field where we feel like we have a guy with separation, it’s on both the wideouts and the quarterback to be able to go handle that,” the rookie OC said. “Also, we want (Caleb) to be able to start playing through those progressions when those things don’t present themselves, to be able to expedite his process to get the ball underneath.”
So it’s still a work in progress from a coaching and execution standpoint.
But remember this: as long as Johnson is here, this is probably the worst the Bears offense is going to look: that period where Williams and his teammates are still finding their way through it. And this squad came into Week 11 leading the NFL in big plays and is top 10 in both points scored and yards gained.
We can see glimpses of special quarterbacking every week from Williams, especially in the clutch. When the game truly slows down for him, it’s going to be a problem for the league.
