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Bears QB Caleb Williams' stock nears rock bottom as 2025 NFL season approaches

Originally posted on Chicago Bears on SI | By Bryan Perez | Last updated Sep 3, 2025 11:59 AM ET

There are low expectations, and then there are really low expectations, which seems to be the case for Chicago Bears QB Caleb Williams, according to the latest quarterback stock report from The Athletic.

In the latest iteration, Jeff Howe has Williams ranked 24th among the NFL's 32 starting quarterbacks. He finished last season ranked 22nd.

Here are the only quarterbacks who rank lower than Williams to begin the 2025 season: Russell Wilson (25), Cam Ward (26), Michael Penix (27), JJ McCarthy (28), Justin Fields (29), Joe Flacco (30), Daniel Jones (31), and Spencer Rattler (32).

Not great.

If there's any good news, it's that Fields -- the QB the Bears discarded so they can move on to Williams -- is worse.

Again, not great.

You'd think with so much buzz around Ben Johnson taking over as the Bears' play caller that the narrative around Williams would be more positive. In some ways, it's gotten worse. In fact, it's gotten worse in almost all ways.

Reports of Williams struggling in training camp (which should've been expected) have soured his outlook. His fantastic outing in the Week 2 preseason game was quickly trumped by his pedestrian showing against the Chiefs one week later, and with that being his last on-field exposure, his stock has dropped.

None of this will matter if Caleb Williams slices and dices a quality Minnesota Vikings defense in Week 1's Monday night matchup. He'll go a long way in silencing his critics, and should make a big jump up stock reports like The Athletic's.

Williams feels like a great 'buy low' candidate.

This article first appeared on Chicago Bears on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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