The Pro Bowl isn’t always the most reliable source of confirmation that a player in the NFL is good. However, it tends to be at least a decent barometer that they’re trending in the right direction. Jaylon Johnson is the most recent proof of this. If the Chicago Bears hope to start making a run at the NFC crown, they need other players to start stepping up. Several names on the roster feel like potential breakthrough possibilities on the Pro Bowl front. Who is the most likely to make their first?
You can start with Kyler Gordon. He’s become one of the best nickel corners in the NFL. His play is excellent in spurts. All he needs is to make it through a season healthy. Gervon Dexter is another option. He had five sacks and 19 QB hits last year, illustrating his significant growth. Rome Odunze had over 700 yards last season and no longer has to worry about Keenan Allen eating into his targets. However, Conor Orr of Sports Illustrated went in a different direction with his choice.
It was certainly the most interesting.
Caleb Williams, QB, Bears
Williams is another obvious candidate under new coach Ben Johnson. He went from a situation with multiple offensive coordinators during his rookie season to landing the best play-caller in the NFL as a head coach, an all-new offensive line and a weapon at tight end (Colston Loveland) in the first round of the draft. Chicago will be able to run a wide open and versatile 12-personnel, which will give Williams more time and freedom at the line and the Bears more options to puncture defenses. When Williams got the ball out on time, he was spectacular last season, even with a system that was dreadfully conceived. His stat line, which included 20 touchdowns and six interceptions, is the basis of an elite quarterback statistical ceiling.
Williams would be in extremely rare Chicago Bears territory.
Think about this. The Pro Bowl was implemented in 1951. In that time, only five Chicago Bears quarterbacks have ever made it. Three of them failed to do it more than once, and they were the three most recent: Billy Wade, Jim McMahon, and Mitch Trubisky. That is the type of history Caleb Williams is confronting. It is a constant battle for Chicago quarterbacks even to be passable. Making the Pro Bowl is tantamount to scaling Mount Everest. Still, Williams is the most well-positioned to do it in the past 30 years. He has a deep cast of weapons, a rebuilt offensive line, and one of the most respected play callers in the NFL as his head coach. If he can’t take a step forward now? Questions will emerge about whether he’s the real deal or not.