Mike Tannenbaum doubts Caleb Williams as the future for the Chicago Bears at quarterback

Caleb Williams had a decent rookie season, especially considering things within the franchise, after being the No. 1 pick by the Chicago Bears. The question now is if his second season will meet what the expectations of him were coming into the NFL.

On Friday, ‘Get Up’ broke down what they believed would be the future, starting this fall, for Williams in Chicago. First up was Mike Tannenbaum, who is unsure about Williams based on how last season went, even with what all went wrong overall for the Bears.

“I am not (convinced about Williams in Chicago),” Tannenbaum said. “I worked with Ben Johnson in Miami, the new head coach of the Bears. He is going to be a rule-based, disciplined play caller and coach. When you have 68 sacks? Look, the Bears were not great in coaching, not great in personnel last year but you have to bear some of that responsibility. No team has done more for their quarterback in this offseason than the Bears. We’ll see if he’ll get better, but I am concerned by his lack of his discipline in his fundamentals, that’s not going to allow him to maximize his potential.”

Dan Graziano went next with some agreement with Tannenbaum about whether Williams’ style of improvising at times will translate. Still, though, he’s not ready to give up on him entirely based on his first season playing in the NFL.

“I think they feel like it’s a ground-up situation with Caleb Williams, building from the ground up. That was something that followed Caleb Williams into the league, right – can he play on schedule? Can he operate in the confines of an offense? I think Ben Johnson is the kind of creative offensive mind that can figure out a way to maximize strengths and minimize weaknesses and maybe iron some of that stuff out,” Graziano said. “We’ve got to see it. I mean, the word convinced is a tricky one here because I don’t think we have enough data on Caleb Williams in the NFL to be convinced one way or the other. But the Bears are banking on Ben Johnson as the guy that can figure out how to get the absolute best out of him while minimizing the issues.”

Finally, Michael Wilbon, as much of a Chicago expert as there is at the network, feels differently than they do. He has seen quarterbacks come and go from the franchise, many of them having failed, whether as a result of themselves or of the Bears. That said, Williams, and how the team is handling him at this point with who they’ve hired to coach him and put to play around him, is not the same as all those quarterbacks who have been before him.

“For 60 years, I have followed every move of this team, and I’m not exaggerating – 60. What I know for certain is the Bears are going to screw up the quarterback situation. They’re going to draft the wrong guy, they’re going to have the wrong coach, they’re going to coach that guy poorly, okay. That I know. That is not the case here, okay,” Wilbon said. “I’m paying attention in a way that not either of these two guys are, who’ve forgotten more football in general than I’ll ever know. That is not the case with Caleb Williams.”

“He is going to be coached. One of the things that is not criticized enough…Coaching. NFL coaching is not looked at critically enough with a critical eye. Ben Johnson seems to be exactly what the Bears and Caleb Williams need. Did you hear Ben Johnson, in his very first press conference, talk about what he was going to do? Tear it down to the studs and build it. That is exactly what Caleb Williams needs. They went out and got every weapon for him,” continued Wilbon. “Anybody who doesn’t see or listen to Caleb Williams and thinks he’s not a sponge who’s willing and able to do that? We are on separate pages and I don’t believe a word of that – and I’m a guy who knows that the Bears are going to get it wrong for 100 years. This? They’re going to get right.”

After being the No. 1 overall pick in 2024, Williams went on to start all 17 games in which he posted 62.5% completion for 3,541 yards, 20 touchdowns, and six interceptions. Again, not too bad, but not fully what the anticipation was with him. Williams turned the ball over 11 times while taking the most sacks in the entire league, while the offense was among the worst in the league at 28th overall with 18.2 points per game. Some of that did fall on the coaching staff, too, hence the changes from Matt Eberflus and OC Shane Waldron to Ben Johnson and OC Declan Doyle.

One season does not a career make, with Williams still having plenty of time to be what many thought he would be. Even so, Williams will need to show something in what’s already a key season for him and the team in just his second year in the league.