Williams was at his best in crunch time last season, regularly displaying his clutch gene with remarkable highlight throws that had to be seen to be believed. The former USC standout also drew comparisons to famous escape artist Harry Houdini for the ability to elude pass rushers and extend plays.

Williams ranked fifth in the NFL with a 27-to-7 touchdown-to-interception ratio and became the first Bears quarterback to start every game in two straight seasons since 1976-77. Despite the success, however, he was not satisfied.

“It was good for me to be able to see, to be able to feel, to be able to go out there and win games,” Williams said. “But that wasn’t my goal. That’s not my goal. That’s not where I want to be. I want to be the best. I want to win. I want to be a world champion, a Super Bowl champion. I want to be the best Bear quarterback, the best quarterback.

“Yes, that was a good steppingstone for me. But that wasn’t the last steppingstone. So being able to grow off of last year and being able to progress in ways that I want to, that last year really wasn’t anything. It was a good year and we’ve got many good years coming up.”

The huge strides that Williams made in 2025 were evident to all, especially his teammates.

“Caleb’s so talented, but I mean I just go back to last year,” said tight end Cole Kmet. “His improvement with him as a quarterback and his etiquette in the huddle in terms of giving the play call, making calls at the line of scrimmage, all those pre-snap things that maybe [reporters] or fans don’t view as the sexy thing, those are the things that he got really, really good [at] throughout the course of the season.

“And it really helps everybody—all 10 guys, whether it’s the offensive line, tight ends, running backs, receivers—do their job at an efficient rate and make decisions a lot quicker. I thought he just continued to progress in that regard and I’m sure he’ll pick up from there and continue to excel and really show off that talent.”

Williams and the Bears offense are seemingly much further along than they were a year ago when they spent the early stages of the offseason learning verbiage in a new playbook. That should allow them to focus on honing fundamentals this spring.

In addition, the unit boasts continuity, with many key players returning from last season. Earlier this month, Williams worked with a group of skill position teammates at USC that included receivers Rome Odunze, Luther Burden III and Jahdae Walker and tight end Colston Loveland.

“Having a young core is fun because you get to have that aspect of growing together and your bond and how tight knit you are, that grows,” Williams said. “I was just with them in California at my old school, just working out, laughing, joking, going to dinner, having them over at the house. Those moments, it’s not fake. We’re all hanging out, we’re all laughing. And then we get on the football field, it’s time to work also. That part of it is exciting.

“Having the young core, it’s also exciting because we know the plan is to be together for a while. We get to grow and build this tight knit relationship between each other and from there, you stick together for a long time and you get to be able to accomplish some pretty cool things together.”