Caleb Williams just completed one of the most electric sophomore seasons a Chicago Bears quarterback has ever had.
Six fourth quarter comebacks. A playoff win over Green Bay that nobody in Chicago will forget. A late touchdown in the playoffs to Cole Kmet against the Rams that forced overtime.
And now his quarterback coach is telling him to… do less?
That’s the message from Bears QBs coach J.T. Barrett heading into 2026. Now it’s not a critique of Williams’ talent or a lack of faith in what he can do, but rather a simple, honest acknowledgment of what Williams can improve on.
“Late in some of those games, we were making some heroic plays … but it wasn’t necessary if we execute in the first quarter and second quarter,” Barrett said. “We might be up two touchdowns by the time we get to the fourth quarter.
“We can be efficient and take what the defense is giving. You don’t necessarily have to put the cape on and make those crazy plays because you already were killing them in the first three quarters.”
The numbers tell the story
GettyBears QB Caleb Williams
Caleb Williams threw for a franchise record 3,942 yards last season, added 27 touchdowns against just 7 interceptions, and dragged the Chicago Bears to an NFC North title almost through sheer force of will.
That’s the headline version. But the fine print is harder to ignore.
His completion percentage actually dropped from 62.5% as a rookie to 58.1% in 2025, last in the league among qualifying starters. His -6.9 completion percentage over expected was the worst among quarterbacks who attempted at least 200 passes. And his time to throw ranked second longest in the NFL.
Ben Johnson has reportedly set 70% as the target for 2026. Williams has never come close to that number in a single game.
Now none of this is a knock on what Williams produced. It’s just the clearest possible picture of how much runway he still has.
Here’s the thing: J.T. Barrett has seen this movie before. He’s been in Johnson’s system since 2022, when both were in Detroit turning Jared Goff into one of the most efficient quarterbacks in football.
Goff completed 68% of his passes last season under Johnson, averaged 7.9 yards per attempt, and posted a 105.5 passer rating. He did it by being boring in the best possible way.
The Bears aren’t trying to clone Goff. Williams can do things Goff simply can’t, and everyone knows it. But the underlying philosophy is the same: Timing, sequencing, hitting the open guy, keeping the offense moving in the first half instead of living and dying in the fourth quarter.
That’s the blueprint
GettyBears QB Caleb Williams
Barrett even has some life perspective on this. He spent two seasons as a practice-squad quarterback behind Drew Brees in New Orleans, watching arguably the most efficient passer of his era complete 74% of his throws on 6.7 air yards per attempt.
“I don’t think it’s a hard sell, especially when you watch the elite players in our league do it for such a long time,” Barrett said, citing Brees, Tom Brady and reigning MVP Matthew Stafford. “It’s like poetry. There’s Tom Brady doing it. You better than Tom?”
The encouraging part is that Williams isn’t pushing back on any of this. He called his 2025 season “a steppingstone, but not the last steppingstone” and acknowledged that the improvement wasn’t where he wanted it to be.
Barrett captured exactly what the next version of Williams looks like. “We don’t have to work as hard for our money. There’s times where we could just work through our progression and get the ball out on time instead of having to create and extend plays.”
The Chicago Bears don’t want Williams to stop being Williams. They want the wild plays to be the exception, not the survival mechanism. If Williams can look dominant in the first quarter, the fourth quarter takes care of itself.
That’s the version of Caleb Williams the rest of the NFC doesn’t want to see.
Bears Coach Gives Caleb Williams a Reality Check After Breakout Season