Caleb Williams' rookie season was pretty much a waste. The Chicago Bears should've fired Matt Eberflus and given their No. 1 pick a clean slate, but instead, he had to deal with a terrible offensive line and an even worse offense.
As expected, Williams took a big leap in his first year under Ben Johnson's tutelage, though his accuracy — or lack thereof — continued to be a talking point. He made incredible throws but often struggled to complete the easy ones.
Fast forward to today, and the critics should be radio silent. Williams has driven up his completion percentage in the most impressive way, and he was — literally — perfect when given a clean pocket in Week 6.
Caleb Williams' accuracy issues are a thing of the past
According to Next Gen Stats, Williams completed 24 of 24 throws for 248 yards from a clean pocket in the Bears' Week 6 win over the Falcons. That's the most attempts without an incompletion from a clean pocket in a game since 2018.
The former No. 1 pick is completing a league-leading 72.5 percent of his passes this season, bumping his career completion percentage to 61.2 percent. That's especially significant for a young man who completed just 58.1 percent of his throws in year two.
Granted, this is a small sample size, given that he's missed three games, but it speaks volumes about the hard work he put in between seasons, not to mention how Ben Johnson has tailored the offense to him. Williams has taken ownership of the playbook, and he's been a much more mature player this season.
He's making great reads, good decisions, and he's not putting the ball in harm's way as often. His arm talent and confidence make him feel like he can make every throw in the book — because he can — but trusting his talent also made him force throws and take unnecessary risks at times.
The Bears wanted him to take more layups and easy completions to keep the chains moving, and that's exactly what he's doing right now. He's playing the best football of his young career, and that should be a scary thought for the rest of the league.
This team deserves plenty of credit for building around their generational talent and giving him everything he needs to succeed, but props to him for also taking a deep look in the mirror and realizing that he needed to do better. Some guys take years to figure things out, but it looks like Williams is playing in 'Easy' mode right now.
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