Caleb Williams Rewriting Bears’ Rookie Quarterback History

It’s too early to declare Bears rookie Caleb Williams a franchise quarterback, but he’s getting there, and he’s rewriting history in doing so. Williams is Chicago’s most talked-about player since Devin Hester, and, at times, his play is equally jaw-dropping.

This is as ridiculous a throw as you will see — Caleb Williams' second touchdown pass to Keenan Allen. Over the outstretched hands of the DT and LB, over the CB in tight coverage, and into Allen's hands with less than a yard of end zone left. Just preposterous. pic.twitter.com/9sevy4jqVX

— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) October 14, 2024

It’s important to put things in perspective because the Bears have faced the NFL’s three worst passing defenses in winning three straight over the Rams, Panthers, and Jaguars. Then again, Williams is beating the teams he’s supposed to beat, something Bears fans haven’t seen with regularity since Jay Cutler led the team. Imagine if Patrick Mahomes started and played full games during the preseason. That’s how Williams has looked since Week 3. Check the stats:

• Week 4: The Bears beat the Rams 24-18. Williams was 17 of 23 for 157 yards with one TD, no interceptions, and three sacks.
• Week 5: The Bears beat the Panthers 36-10. Williams was 20 of 29 for 304 yards with two scores, no interceptions, and one sack.
• Week 6: The Bears beat the Jaguars 35-16. The rookie quarterback finished 23 of 29 for 226 yards with four touchdown passes, one interception, and three sacks.

Williams is simply spoiling Bears fans with his poise and production. Chicago has scored 30+ points in back-to-back games for the first time since 2013. The offense has scored 10 touchdowns in two games for the first time since 1956. Williams has posted three consecutive performances with a triple-digit passer rating. Cutler was the last to do that in 2009.

He is also the first Chicago rookie quarterback with four or more wins through the team’s first six games. Those four wins are already tied for the second-most by a rookie quarterback in team history for a single season. More importantly, Williams is playing like a quarterback worth taking No. 1 overall in the draft. Very few fans, if any, are still questioning the decision to move on from Justin Fields.

This might be the play-call of the season from Shane Waldron.

Fake double screen and Caleb Williams hits Cole Kmet up the seam for a touchdown.

Beautiful. pic.twitter.com/5hDyHWi7Dc

— Harrison Graham (@HGrahamNFL) October 13, 2024

How good has Williams been? Let’s lift the hood and take a look.

• He’s the third Bears rookie QB to throw for four touchdowns in a single game. Cade McNown (1999) and Ray Buivid (1937) are the others.
• At 56%, Williams has the highest dropback success rate in the NFL over the last three weeks.
• He is tied for seventh with nine TD passes. Don’t forget he didn’t get his first until Game 3.
• Williams, in fact, has the most touchdown passes by a Bears rookie quarterback in any three-game span (7) or any four-game span (9) all-time.
• He and Jim McMahon are the only rookie quarterbacks in team history to have three or more games with multiple passing touchdowns.
• His 1,317 passing yards put him on pace for 3,732 yards this year, which would shatter Chicago’s rookie passing record of 2,193 yards (Mitchell Trubisky, 2017) and be 106 yards shy of breaking the Bears’ franchise passing yards record for any quarterback at 3,838 (Erik Kramer, 1995).
• Only two NFL rookie QBs have had 75% completion pct., 225 yards passing and four TD passes in a game since the NFL Merger: Williams and McNown.
• Williams is the first rookie quarterback in the Common Draft era to win four of his first six starts.
• Only four rookie quarterbacks have thrown for four scores and had 50+ rushing yards in the same game. Williams did that Sunday, joining Troy Aikman (1989), Robert Griffin III (2012), and Deshaun Watson (2017).
• No NFL quarterback had thrown for four touchdown passes in any game in the NFL’s London series until Williams did it Sunday.
• Jayden Daniels, who is the current favorite to be the Offensive Rookie of the Year, has six touchdown passes. Williams has six in the last two games.
• Williams is now 12th in the league in EPA on red zone throws, 6th when defenses play man against him, and first in both metrics among rookie QBs.
• Williams’ completion rate of 79% on Sunday is the highest single-game mark in league history by a rookie with 25+ attempts and 4+ passing TDs.

Williams gets into trouble when he holds the ball too long, though those instances are few and far between. On Sunday he was 13 of 14 for 11 yards and three scores when getting rid of the ball in 2.5 seconds or less. Yes, it’s too early to call Williams a franchise quarterback, but he’s already Chicago’s best rookie quarterback through six starts in team history. Give the man a few more starts. Team records will continue to fall.

Bears. Caleb. As written. pic.twitter.com/9s6hE5FEjw

— Kyle Brandt (@KyleBrandt) October 14, 2024

Let’s follow Kyle Barndt’s advice and enjoy the ride for now. The 4-2 Bears are still in last place in the NFC North, but being in last place has never been this much fun. The Williams-Daniels match in two weeks is suddenly the NFL’s Game of the Year. Nobody expected that after Week 2.