Caleb Williams Is About to Find Out What Year 3 Looks Like With Ben Johnson Calling Plays
Caleb Williams is about to step into the most important season of his career.
The Chicago Bears quarterback finished his second year with career highs in passing yards and touchdowns under new head coach Ben Johnson. He led the Bears to an 11-6 record, an NFC North title and a divisional round playoff appearance. That is real progress. Now the question is what he does for an encore.
The Bears are entering training camp with an offensive identity. Johnson came over from Detroit and immediately installed the same kind of system that turned Jared Goff into a top-tier quarterback. Williams responded to it. The numbers were there. The decision-making was sharper. The footwork was cleaner. Year 1 of the Williams-Johnson partnership was a clear success.
Year 2 is a different challenge. Defenses now have a full season of film on this version of Williams. They know how Johnson likes to attack. They know the route concepts. They know which throws Williams is most comfortable making. The offense has to evolve, and Williams has to evolve with it.
The schedule does not help. The Bears play the Vikings, Falcons and Patriots all in the first half of the season. Two of those are likely playoff teams. New England with Drake Maye, Atlanta with Michael Penix and the Vikings as a perennial NFC North threat. Chicago has to come out of the gate ready or they fall behind early.
Williams himself has been low-key about his offseason. He told the Kelces on the New Heights podcast that he has not been communicating much with his 2024 draft class. He follows guys like Drake Maye and Jayden Daniels on social media, but they are not exactly trading playbooks. That is fine. They are all in their own worlds right now.
What Williams needs to focus on is the next jump. Year 2 was the leap from raw talent to functional quarterback. Year 3 is when he has to become the version of himself that wins playoff games. The Bears made it to the divisional round last year. They did not advance. That is the bar.
The supporting cast has been upgraded. The offensive line is solid. The receivers have depth. The defense is at a level where it can win games on its own when needed. Ben Johnson has the experience to scheme around weaknesses. The infrastructure for a deep playoff run is in place.
The NFC is wide open. The Eagles took a step back after losing A.J. Brown. The 49ers have questions in the secondary. The Lions are still good but lost some key pieces. The Bears are in the conversation, and Williams is the variable that determines how high they can climb.
The MVP race is going to be loaded. Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, Drake Maye, Josh Allen and Joe Burrow are all in it. Williams is not yet at that level, but he is closer than anyone expected him to be coming out of Year 1. Another season of growth puts him there.
The Bears have not had a homegrown franchise quarterback in a long time. Williams could be that. The infrastructure to make it happen is here. Now he just has to keep climbing.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
