Chicago Bears third-year pro Caleb Williams has emerged as one of the NFL's most exciting young quarterbacks after a breakout sophomore season where he set an NFL record with seven fourth-quarter comebacks and set a franchise single-season passing record while leading a top-five offense under Ben Johnson.
But Williams is still underrated around the NFL. However, the coaches, general managers and executives in the NFL are starting to come around. In Sports Illustrated’s most recent poll of the coaches, managers and executives, Williams was ranked the No. 9 quarterback in the league.
This pick isn’t just about what he did with Ben Johnson last year, but the direction the Bears were headed as the year ended. And that’s why he made a jump, even with guys
that left him out of the top five. ‘Caleb is an awesome talent,’ said one AFC offensive coordinator. ‘In a year or two, if he stays the course with Ben Johnson, he will be top three. His physical talent is freakish.’ Which is to say he’s good now—and should get a lot better.
In total, Williams appeared on the ballots of 14 different people, which is a far cry from the top quarterback, Josh Allen with the Buffalo Bills, who was on 101 ballots. Nonetheless, he is still the third quarterback among those in the NFC with only reigning MVP Matthew Stafford with the Los Angeles Rams and Dak Prescott with the Dallas Cowboys.
The AFC quarterbacks who are ahead of Williams are understandable including Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow and Lamar Jackson. Only one quarterback is ahead of Williams who has been in the league the same amount of time as him, Drake Maye who just took the New England Patriots to the Super Bowl.
Overall, this ranking seems fair given where Williams is in his career, and I do agree with the offensive coordinator quoted by Sports Illustrated that he will be a top three quarterback in a year or two. Part of becoming one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL is getting the Bears back to the playoffs.
Follow Bears Wire on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram
This article originally appeared on Bears Wire: Where does Bears star Caleb Williams rank among NFL QBs?
