Bears Neglected Caleb Williams’ Basic Need After QB Sought Move Away From Chicago

Caleb Williams’s rookie year in Chicago felt less like a Hollywood underdog story and more like a ’78 Chevy Nova sputtering on Lake Shore Drive. You know the type—promising engine, shiny draft-day finish, but a nagging sense that someone forgot to check the oil. The Bears’ quarterback history reads like a Curb Your Enthusiasm rerun. Same mistakes, louder groans. From Sid Luckman to Justin Fields, Chicago’s QB carousel spins on a loop of ‘almost, but…‘

So when Williams—armed with Heismań hype and generational talent—landed in the Windy City, fans hoped he’d break the curse. Instead, the Bears handed him a playbook and a pat on the back. No GPS, no co-pilot. Just a kid staring at game tape, wondering where the hell to start.

Seth Wickersham’s upcoming book, American Kings: A Biography of the Quarterback (September 2025) pulls back the curtain on Williams’ chaotic debut. The USC star didn’t just consider avoiding Chicago—he nearly rewrote the NFL’s draft rules to do it. Carl Williams, Caleb’s father, famously told agents, “Chicago is the place quarterbacks go to die.” The Bears’ coaching staff didn’t exactly disprove him.

Head coach Matt Eberflus and offensive coordinator Shane Waldron—both fired midseason—left Williams to decode NFL defenses solo. “No one tells me what to watch,” Williams confided to his dad. “I just turn it on.” The stats tell the rest: 68 sacks (league-worst), a 10-game losing streak, and an offense ranked 28th in scoring. For context, only David Carr (76 sacks in 2002) took more punishment as a rookie. Former Bears QB Chase Daniel summed it up bluntly: “That is insane. How in the world did no one else tell him?” Wickersham’s interview with Rich Eisen peeled back the layers of Chicago’s chaos.

When asked about Caleb Williams’s film routine, Wickersham noted, “We brought up Alex Smith because Alex Smith… has talked a lot about that in San Francisco. How he would just watch a film by himself, and no one had taught him how to watch the film.” The parallel is stark. The coaches handed Williams a playbook and told him to figure it out. Even Wickersham admitted, “It’s one of the reasons why people like Carl Williams were so concerned about where his son ended up.” Carl’s fears weren’t paranoia; they were prophetic.

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The Bears’ missteps stand in glaring contrast to other teams. Indeed, Wickersham pointed out, “Look at how well Jayden did. Look at Bo Nix… someone who knows how to talk quarterback and speak quarterback and call an offense.” While Commanders QB Jayden Daniels trained with VR simulations and Kliff Kingsbury’s play-calling tutelage, Williams scavenged for clues in solo film sessions.

Chicago’s gamble on self-taught QB development backfired. “He was sacked 68 times. I mean, it’s ridiculous,” Wickersham quipped. For a franchise chasing relevance, trusting rookies to “figure it out” isn’t a strategy. It’s surrender. But here’s the kicker: Williams still threw for 3,541 yards and 20 touchdowns. Imagine his numbers with actual guidance. The NFL doesn’t ask rookies to reinvent the wheel—only to steer it. But Williams spent 2024 building the wheel and the car. Veteran QB routines? Forget it.

Can Chicago finally get it right with Caleb?

So, Chase Daniel outlined a typical week. Mondays dissect prior games, Tuesdays study four upcoming opponents. And Wednesdays focus on base defenses, indeed. “Every single time you’re coming in on Tuesday, you’re spending 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. and you’re watching those games,” Daniel said. Chicago’s approach? Crickets. Even Ted Lasso had a whiteboard.

The Bears’ neglect wasn’t just a stumble. In fact, it was organizational malpractice. “It shows a level of total neglect no one could have suspected even from the clownish combo of former offensive coordinator Shane Waldron and head coach Matt Eberflus,” said SI‘s Gene Chamberlain. Meanwhile, Williams’s camp quietly cheered when Detroit Lions guru Ben Johnson took over as head coach in January 2025.

Johnson’s hiring signals hope. That’s because his Lions offense ranked top-five in yards and points for two straight seasons. Pair that with Chicago’s revamped O-line and new weapons like WR Luther Burden III, and Williams has the tools to thrive. “I really can’t wait to get to work with these guys,” he said this April.

But Chicago’s QB graveyard is littered with “can’t-miss” prospects. As philosopher George Santayana warned, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” The Bears finally have a roadmap. The question is, will they follow it—or let Williams’s talent rust in the garage?