Tom Waddle wants Caleb Williams to throw more interceptions this year.
Now, if you take the sentence out of context, it sounds bad. Waddle doesn’t want Williams to be reckless with the football, but for the Bears quarterback to take more risks to see a higher reward.
“I want to see Caleb be more aggressive this year,” Waddle said on The Chicago Football Show.
Williams’ rookie season was filled with ups and downs. Despite going through three different offensive coordinators, a head coach being fired, and a 5-12 team record, the Bears’ QB threw for 20 touchdowns with only six interceptions – while starting all 17 games.
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Of the 14 quarterbacks to start in every one of their team’s regular season games last season, only two threw fewer interceptions than Williams (Lamar Jackson – 4, Justin Herbert – 3). However, no quarterback threw fewer touchdowns than Williams.
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Waddle wants to see a more aggressive quarterback under first-year head coach Ben Johnson.
“I’d be more than thrilled to see him 29-30 touchdowns and 11, 12, 13 interceptions because it tells me he’s taking chances,” Waddle said. “You don’t play recklessly, but you do have to be aggressive.”
If Williams were to reach the 30-touchdown passes threshold, he would become the first quarterback in Chicago’s history to do so. The current Bears franchise record for touchdown passes in a season is held by Erik Kramer with 29 in 1995.
A season with 30 touchdown passes and 12 or fewer interceptions would almost certainly lead to a Pro Bowl selection for Williams. All four quarterbacks who met that criteria in 2024 were selected to the Pro Bowl – including Lions QB Jared Goff, whose offensive coordinator just so happens to be Williams’ new head coach.