The Chicago Bears are heading into the 2026 NFL season with much higher expectations than they have had before recent years.
After winning the NFC North last season and making the playoffs as the No. 2 seed in the NFC, the hype is high. Caleb Williams is a big part of that hype.
Williams started off the 2025 season slowly. There were some fans calling for the Bears to bench him in favor of Tyson Bagent. Ben Johnson didn’t listen to those suggestions and he was proven right when all was said and done.
In his second NFL season, Williams played in all 17 regular season games. He completed 58.1 percent of his pass attempts for 3,942 yards, 27 touchdowns, and seven interceptions, while also running for 388 yards and three more touchdowns.
Ahead of the upcoming 2026 NFL season, an NFL scout who works for an NFC team spoke to Heavy and delivered a head-turning prediction about Williams.
NFL Scout Believes Bears’ Caleb Williams Will Be Top MVP Candidate
Most notably, the scout shared his belief that Williams will be a finalist for the NFL MVP award.
“I think the sky is the limit for Caleb (Williams) this year,” the scout said. “You saw him scratch the surface of his potential last season. If he can clean up some of the easy throws, I think he’s got a legitimate chance to be an MVP finalist.”
He also shared what he thinks Williams needs to do in order to reach that level of play.
“Like I said, the easy throws he has to clean up. He is elite at the crazy out of the pocket playmaking. The next step is becoming a complete pass.”
If Williams can take that kind of leap, the Bears are going to be a legitimate Super Bowl contender. Chicago fans have many different reasons to be excited about both the immediate and long-term future with Williams leading the charge.
Chicago Has a Slightly Different Supporting Cast for Williams
This offseason, the Bears did make a difficult but needed decision. They traded veteran star wide receiver D.J. Moore to the Buffalo Bills.
Moore has been a consistent and reliable target for Williams over the last two years. His presence within the offense will be missed.
Leading the way at the wide receiver position this season will be Rome Odunze and Luther Burden Jr. Behind those two wideouts, the team will have Kalif Raymond, Jahdae Walker, and Scotty Miller.
With the changes at wide receiver, Chicago will need the tight end room to step up. At this point in time, the Bears have held onto Cole Kmet, while Colston Loveland is expected to have a big second season.
Expect to see the Chicago offense remain dangerous this season. For Williams, the expectations are high that he will take a third-year leap.
NFL Scout Doesn’t Hold Back About Bears QB Caleb Williams