“While the Bears’ dreamlike season ended in disappointment (brought on, in part, by a Williams interception),” Shook writes of Williams. “Chicago has every reason to carry an overwhelming sense of optimism into 2026. Williams’ first year under Ben Johnson produced a noticeable jump, both statistically and visually, and that’s before I even mention the revelation of his indefatigable clutch gene.

“Williams graduated from a quarterback who held on to the ball too long in an effort to make the perfect play to a signal-caller who became a fearless gunslinger, both to his benefit and his detriment. He possesses rare arm strength and athleticism — empowering him to pull off some of the most unbelievable plays we saw in 2025 — and he grew more comfortable operating Johnson’s offense as the season progressed. An offseason (and perhaps an addition at receiver) should only see Williams become an even better quarterback in a system he’ll know much better than he did to start 2025.”

Another year of familiarity in Johnson’s scheme, and with top pass catchers like rookie tight end Colston Loveland, and receivers Rome Odunze and Luther Burden could lead to Williams not only picking up where he left off, but launching into an even higher level of play next season.

Former NFL quarterback Sage Rosenfels has trained with Williams, of and on since the Bears’ quarterback was 18 years old, and believes that Johnson is the perfect head coach to get the most out of Chicago’s young signal caller.

“I think Ben [Johnson] is smart enough to realize that over-scheming sometimes has a law of diminishing returns,” Rosenfels recently told Between The Hashmarks. “You want to make use of Caleb’s physical, running-around capabilities. You want to allow those to happen naturally, and not make them happen.

“Pockets break down half the time, so you don’t have to try to create an offense where Caleb’s using his athleticism, because it’ll just naturally happen all the time, because no matter what team, or who’s in front of you, offensive linemen are going to get beat. That’s just the way it goes. So, you allow for Caleb to do what he does so well, which is sort of run around, but you can’t rely on that forever.”