Caleb Williams’ rookie season in Chicago wasn’t exactly stellar. Head coach Matt Eberflus and offensive coordinator Shane Waldron were both dismissed during the regular season. Bears general manager Ryan Poles acknowledged in the offseason that “steps were skipped” in preparing Williams for his rookie campaign.
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No matter who was calling plays or what the game situation was, Williams took too many sacks-tying for the third most in a single season in NFL history. While he improved over the final eight weeks and flashed the potential of a franchise quarterback, he still struggled with consistency and slow starts.
The Bears’ first-quarter struggles were historic. And not in a good way. They managed just 27 points — their lowest output in decades — with only 20 of those coming from the offense. Something clearly wasn’t going right. And as Caleb Williams has seemingly revealed, things weren’t right in the internally either.
An upcoming book by Seth Wickersham called ‘American Kings: A Biography of The Quarterback’ seemingly reveals that Williams would watch film alone, with no instruction or guidance from the coaches.
“No one tells me what to watch,” Caleb Williams apparently told his dad. “I just turn it on.”
But Emmanuel Acho has no sympathy for Williams. According to the former linebacker, who only played in the league for three years, this claim by Williams is disengenuous and whiny.
“It’s the league, bruh. Coaches don’t tuck you into bed, and say, ‘Alright, little Timmy, you need to watch the Lions play…you gotta watch the Vikings play.’ It’s the league. The league ain’t for everybody…The league will kick you and spit you out bro…You learn how to watch film in college…Closed mouth don’t get fed.”
I can’t believe how disingenuous everyone is being about this Caleb Williams article… It’s the league… THE LEAGUE. pic.twitter.com/4HWBW8hf7K
— Emmanuel Acho (@EmmanuelAcho) May 15, 2025
But Williams doesn’t seem to be saying that he doesn’t know how to watch film, but that no one is doing it with him. As Poles admitted in the offseason, “This game, the playbook, is a completely different animal. The responsibility of a quarterback in the pros is different. That takes a lot of adjusting to. How you set up the foundation is really, really important. I really think at some point there were some steps skipped to get him to game day.”
Despite what Acho said, it’s clear that the Bears significantly mismanaged Williams as a rookie and did not have the right leadership around him. But that will hopefully change with the hiring of new HC Ben Johnson. Johnson himself recently responded to these reports, as he told Colin Cowherd, “I see a chance for greatness here for him.”
“He’s been communicative that way. He feels the same way. I don’t know about what’s gone on before I joined the organization, but he’s very proud to be a Chicago Bear. That’s what our conversations have included. He’s really excited to get to work right now and be the best version of himself for 2025,” he further added.
Whether he was this communicative with his previous coaches is not clear. But it’s a good indication that he’s communicating now. Regardless, Acho’s comments don’t seem to take into consideration that Caleb was a rookie operating in a turbulent and dysfunctional organisation.
He didn’t get the privilege of sitting on the bench and learning the ropes from a veteran quarterback, and if his coaches weren’t willing to help him either, that’s just a recipe for disaster. As former quarterback RGIII admitted, “Just because it’s the NFL doesn’t mean that the development stops. If you want your QB to see the game like you, then teach him how to watch tape like you do.” Who do you think is right? Acho or RGIII?
