
It was always understood that as a young quarterback learning a new system, Caleb Williams would need time to acclimate to Bears coach Ben Johnson’s offense. That runway isn’t infinite, though, and this is the point at which he should be turning a corner.One way to know that’s the case is by taking a look at Patriots quarterback Drake Maye, who went two picks after Williams in the draft last year and has overcome similar coaching turmoil to emerge as one of the favorites to win MVP.As Williams goes into the game against the Browns on Sunday, he’s doing some things better than he did as a rookie and taking modest steps in Johnson’s offense, but he’s not playing well enough to vault the Bears into championship contention. It’ll be difficult to even make the playoffs — the Bears are in the seventh seed and finish the season against the Packers, 49ers and Lions — without more from him.The Browns are near the bottom of the NFL at 3-10, but they won’t make it easy on Williams. They have the best pass rusher of this era in Myles Garrett, who has 20 sacks and needs three more to set the single-season record, and are the No. 2 overall defense. They’ve allowed the fewest yards passing, 12th-lowest completion percentage and 14th-lowest passer rating.Among the 27 quarterbacks who have thrown at least 250 passes this season, Williams ranks 20th in passer rating (87.2), 14th in yards per game (223.7), 12th in touchdown…
Want more insights? Join Grow With Caliber - our career elevating newsletter and get our take on the future of work delivered weekly.