Caleb Willams isn’t the first heralded quarterback prospect to flounder in his first NFL start.
Josh Allen also struggled with accuracy and was nearly as unproductive as Williams in his first start with the Bills in 2018. He completed just 18 of 33 passes for 245 yards, with a touchdown and two interceptions for a 63.3 passer rating in a home loss to the Chargers.
The following week, Allen was much more accurate and much more efficient in his first start on the road — 15 for 22 for 196 yards and a touchdown for a 111.2 rating in victory over the Vikings. See how that works?
Maybe. Maybe not. Comparing Bears quarterbacks to Josh Allen was unofficially embargoed after Mitch Trubisky and especially Justin Fields failed to follow Allen’s dramatic NFL career arc. But the excitement around Williams as a different animal and better prospect than Trubisky or Fields makes it just too hard to resist.
With that said, you might want to buckle up for an adventurous rookie season for Williams, for comps’ sake. While Allen was much better in Week 2, his accuracy issues continued throughout his rookie season, when he completed just 52.8% of his passes. He improved to 58.8% in Year 2 and blossomed in Year 3 — completed 69.2% of his passes and throwing for 4,544 yards and 37 touchdowns to finish a distant second to Aaron Rodgers in MVP voting.
Then again, “Wait until 2026” is not quite the battle cry Bears fans want to hear at this point — certainly not four days before the Bears play the Texans and C.J. Stroud, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2023 draft who threw for 4,108 yards, led the NFL with 273.9 passing yards per game, was the offensive rookie of the year and made the Pro Bowl in his first NFL season.
Still, Williams expects to be much better in Week 2, even though it’s a tougher environment — on the road in a prime-time game against a Texans defense that like the Bears is expecting to make a jump into the top-10 in scoring defense this season.
Just getting Week 1 out of the way is half the battle.
“Definitely,” Williams said. “Going into that game it was a little weird for me because it was my first game and we didn’t really have anything on the [defensive] coordinator. But when I got out there, I was seeing it well. Missed a few passes, obviously. But going back and watching the film, I was in the right place when I was throwing the ball.
“I had a few batted balls — but going to the right places, seeing it well, making some o-line adjustments, having good communication on the sideline with my teammates and coaches for adjustments. I think the process was [good]. It was encouraging to see.”
Williams also noted that despite his rough start, the Bears beat the Titans, 24-17. Though that’s hardly inconsequential, taking solace in the defense and special teams bailing you out is dangerous territory for Bears quarterbacks — Rex Grossman and Trubisky in particular have been there before with nothing to show for it.
But again, Williams is expected to be above their unfulfilled promise. And in Week 2 of Year 1, his confidence resonates loud and clear in these desperate parts.
“I believe it was Monday or Tuesday morning, you woke up and realized that you won your first game in the NFL,” Williams said. “Regardless of how you felt [about] your performance, we won our first game and felt super excited.
“We’re building on the small things, making sure we get [those] down, so we can dominate and have fun doing it when we get out there on the field as a team. Felt really good.”
A little better accuracy will solve a lot of problems for Williams and the Bears’ offense that produced just 148 net yards and nine points on three Cairo Santos field goals against the Titans. Sometimes it takes awhile. But other times it does not. And Williams was confident his accuracy issues will be solved sooner rather than later.
“I think understanding that it’s not throws that I usually miss throughout all the time I’ve been playing quarterback,” Williams said. “And also understanding it’s the NFL — they’ve got good players on the other side. They’re gonna make plays, like a few batted balls we had.
“Having an understanding of those two things is very important to keep growing and progressing and to not lose faith … whether it’s the play, the team, yourself, offense — whatever the case may be — you keep that confidence and understand that we obviously didn’t play as well as we wanted and we came out [with a] 24-to-17 Chicago Bears win.”
Williams has seen the film and can pinpoint where mistakes were made. “Sometimes I rushed my drop a littl bit, not needing to,” Williams said. “One specific route I can think of is [with] Rome [Odunze] — I think it was a 10-yard route … and I rushed my drop and tried to juice it in there a little bit and missed. I didn’t need to — just trying to hurry up and get the ball to him as fast as possible so he can make some magic and do what he does.
“[It’s a matter of] just making sure I’m trusting the drop, trusting the reads and getting through them,” Williams said. “That’s probably the biggest thing I’m focused on.”
A lesson learned. It’s how quickly that matters. That’s what the next Sunday is for in the NFL.