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Pro Football Focus: Caleb Williams made just one exceptional throw in 2024

Originally posted on Chicago Bears on SI
By Pete Martuneac | Last updated Jul 28, 2025 10:04 AM ET

Pro Football Focus (PFF) is one of the most widely cited sources when it comes to evaluating football players. Their analysts evaluate every play made by every player throughout the NFL system and, through their own grading system, assign grades at every level. That means each play gets a grade, counting towards a player's in-game grade and, finally, their grade at the end of the season.

It's no surprise to anyone that Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams received a poor final grade for his rookie season. Frankly, his 67.6 grade from PFF is a minor miracle considering the sheer incompetence and chaos within his coaching staff and the historically poor protection his offensive line afforded him. What is surprising is that, according to PFF, only one of Williams' 744 passing plays earned an exceptional grade.

In a recent article from PFF explaining how a pass can range from a -2, a devastatingly negative play like a pick-six, to a +2, the kind of throw that airs on highlight reels for years to come, it is revealed that just one of his passes earned a +1.5 grade, and zero were a +2. Six of his passing plays logged a -1.5 or -2, however.

Anyone who watched his games last year could tell you that he threw more than one exceptional pass before their Week 7 bye. His second-quarter deep ball to Rome Odunze along the sidelines in Week 3 stands out as one, as does his absolute dimeball to Keenan Allen in the endzone just after halftime of Week 6. According to PFF, these were only a +1, or "throws that go beyond routine execution". A +1.5 passing play is "truly exceptional", according to PFF's definitions, and these passes did not fit the bill.

Look, no one is going to argue that Williams should have been graded among the NFL's elite quarterbacks. That's not realistic. But I could go back and rewatch all of Williams' games and likely write a short book breaking down his passing plays that stand out as exceptional, even to the unbiased eye.

Hopefully, with a vastly improved coaching staff and protection scheme, Williams will dial up some more of those +1.5 plays in PFF's grades, or maybe even one of their elusive +2 grades.

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

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