Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams. Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images

ESPN doesn’t think Bears HC Ben Johnson can fix Caleb Williams

Originally posted on ChiCitySports | By Jordan Sigler | Last updated May 26, 2025 8:15 PM ET

One of the funnier jokes this offseason was that Chicago produced a Pope before the Chicago Bears developed a quarterback who can throw for 4,000 yards in a single season.

The Bears’ long history of failure to support a quarterback has been so well documented that the Williams family had their reservations about Caleb Williams being drafted by Chicago with the No. 1 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. Caleb’s father, Carl Williams, said Chicago is where quarterbacks “go to die.”

Despite wanting to join the Minnesota Vikings, Williams ultimately decided he wanted to turn around the Bears’ fortunes at quarterback. He had mixed results in his rookie season, throwing for 3,541 yards, 20 touchdowns and six interceptions. Many of the yards and touchdowns came during the garbage time of games in a 5-12 season.

Former head coach Matt Eberflus and offensive coordinator Shane Waldron are out after their failures with Williams.

Caleb Williams receives a rude prediction from ESPN

The Bears are paying new head coach Ben Johnson $13M per year to fix Williams. With upgrades to the offensive line, tight end and wide receiver this offseason, the Bears should expect Williams to throw for at least 4,000 yards in 2025.

In his NFL projections for 2025, Mike Clay of ESPN is projecting Williams to come in at well under 4,000 yards in the upcoming season. Clay projects Williams to throw for 3,439 yards, 22 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.

Clay doesn’t think Williams will anoint a 1,000 receiver in 2025. DJ Moore is listed as the Bears leading receiver with a prediction of 981 yards and six touchdowns.

(In a few other odd projections, Clay has Case Keenum winning the QB2 job from Tyson Bagent. He also thinks Colston Loveland records 592 receiving yards and four touchdowns in comparison to Cole Kmet’s 172 yards and one touchdown.)

The Chicago Bears need Williams to step up in 2025

Williams is inheriting a difficult situation this offseason. Declan Doyle will be his fourth offensive coordinator in two seasons. As former Bears quarterback Jay Cutler complained during his career in Chicago, going through too many changes with coordinators can hamper a QBs success in the league.

If Clay’s projections come to fruition, Bears fans won’t be happy with the results. Chicago won’t be winning many games this season if Williams throws for under 3,500 yards.

And Bears fans will be looking at what quarterback prospects are doing well in college, much like they did in the second and third seasons with Mitch Trubisky and Justin Fields.

This article first appeared on ChiCitySports and was syndicated with permission.

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