Bears Legend Brian Urlacher Explains How Caleb Williams Could’ve Beaten Jayden Daniels for Offensive Rookie of the Year

Alex Murray | 22/06/2025
Caleb Williams, Brian Urlacher

Brian Urlacher, who played his entire 13-year NFL career with the Chicago Bears from 2000 to 2012, is arguably the greatest Bear since the Ditka era in the 1980s. And he still loves his Bears dearly. So, when he says things about Caleb Williams and this current iteration of the team, take them with a pinch of salt.

Williams was drafted No. 1 overall last year with a lot of fanfare. After an encouraging 4–2 start, the team lost 10 straight, and the coaching staff was gutted midway through his formative first year in the NFL. Williams also had a historically bad offensive line.

With better coaches and a better offensive line, Williams likely would have looked a little better himself. Urlacher agrees, and then some. He said that with a better coaching staff, Williams could have won Rookie of the Year.

“I think if you maybe put him in a different situation last year, he could have been Rookie of the Year. What Kingsbury did with Jayden Daniels at the [Commanders], and what Bo Nix did with Sean Payton in Denver,” the former linebacker said.

“So maybe getting different people around him. So much turmoil [is] going on there. That goes back to the Lovie [Smith] thing. It’s been 13 years since they got rid of Lovie, it’s been that way every year, there’s been no consistency in the coaching department,” he added.

That’s Chicago bias if we’ve ever heard it. Williams shouldn’t escape blame for his underwhelming freshman year.

However, Urlacher is correct about the coaching carousel in the Windy City. Ben Johnson is their sixth head coach (including interims) since Smith’s ouster in 2013. But still, Urlacher’s Bears-colored glasses were clearly on for this one.

Williams was the first QB taken last year but arguably the fifth-most encouraging rookie QB in his class. He has got a ways to go, and beating Daniels last year seems far-fetched, no matter the situation he was hypothetically in. But as the Bears’ all-time leading tackler went on to say, Chicago has at least taken what seem to be the right steps.

They’ve emphasized the offensive line, which was completely retooled. And the staff was changed too, bringing in head coach Johnson to lead a revamped coaching room.

“And it’s not the player’s fault, that’s just the way it goes — well, maybe it is the players’ fault, because they haven’t won, so they can’t keep a coach. But I think Ben Johnson is the man. I love that hire. I think he’ll do a great job with Caleb,” said Urlacher, before commenting on what he felt was a better roster for Williams to prosper.

“They got some talent. They found some guys up front to protect Caleb. And they’ve always had the receivers, so I think that’s gonna be a good thing for him,” he added.

As expected, the Bears fandom was right behind their legend on this one. “Brian Urlacher knows ball, obviously,” said one on Twitter. “Brian is a true New Mexico legend, love how he always knows ball,” chimed in another.

Others added, “YOU NAILED IT LACH!” and “It has been written!”

Excitement in Chicago is surprisingly high in 2025, especially after the letdown of last year. But why shouldn’t it be?

They’re clearly under new management. The turnover within the Bears’ coaching staff was remarkable this offseason. From what we can tell, tight ends coach Jim Dray was the only one to avoid the chopping block on the offensive side of the ball.

The rest of the staff is new this year. It includes Antwaan Randle El, Eric Bieniemy, and OC Declan Doyle. Former Saints head coach Dennis Allen takes over the defense, with former All-Pro DB Al Harris taking charge of the secondary among other changes on that side of the ball.

That’s a pretty impressive list of football brains for Williams and the rest of the young Bears roster to pick.

Post Edited By: Leslie Xavier
Caleb Williams Chicago Bears

About the author

Alex Murray

Alex Murray

Alex Murray has been active in the sport media industry since his graduation from the prestigious RTA School of Media at TMU (formerly Ryerson University) in downtown Toronto. He has had a specific focus and interest on all things football and NFL, which stems from his father, who imbued him with a love of football and the NFL over all other sports at a young age. Alex even played football up until his freshman year of college, when he realized that he would find more success writing about rather than playing the sport. Alex has written for a variety of sports media outlets, including theScore, FanSided, FantasyPros, GiveMeSport, and more.

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