After a challenging rookie season, the No. 1 overall pick of the 2024 draft blossomed in 2025, his first season spent playing under offensive mastermind, Bears head coach Ben Johnson. The results were magical: 3,942 passing yards, a 27-7 TD-INT ratio, an 11-6 record, an NFC North title, a Wild Card Weekend win over the rival Green Bay Packers and a highlight reel with enough thrills to fill a major motion picture.
The sudden turnaround transformed the Bears from a frequently frustrating club into the most promising franchise in the Windy City, with the source of optimism wearing No. 18.
It’s up to Williams to ensure 2025’s successes weren’t a fluke.
Williams carried an air of confidence into Thursday night’s preview event for both Madden 27 and College Football 27 — which EA Sports dubbed their first-ever “Opening Drive” — but despite his years spent in the spotlight at Oklahoma and USC, it’s clear the stardom is still relatively new to the quarterback.
It’s either that, or Williams understands the work is more important than the theatrics.
Take his response to a question regarding the feared “Madden curse,” a belief that a Madden cover athlete is destined for doom in the upcoming season, for example. Williams quickly pivoted away from the hype and back toward the field.
“No more of this Madden curse,” he said. “We’re going to go out and do all the things we need to do, stay healthy, do all the things we need to do study film and be prepared each week, and go out there and handle business.”
The business should be a bit easier, at least during the current portion of offseason activities. At this time one year ago, Williams was submerged in Johnson’s new scheme, absorbing as much of it as possible while preparing for his second NFL season that suddenly carried heightened expectations.
“I was learning so much and it felt like I was just drowning with all the information and things like that,” Williams explained.
Now, after a year spent together, Williams believes the Bears are properly positioned to grow.
“Where we’re at now is different than where we were at last year,” Williams said. “A lot of last year was trying to figure it out. A lot of last year was trying to trust teammates and coaches and all of that. I think at this point, we trust our coaches, they trust us. We’ve got a lot of returning guys, at least on the offensive side of the ball that we know the offense well enough to be able to go out and practice and have these good practices, and with the information that we’re gaining on these plays and on these different schemes that we have, it just heightens the awareness for the scheme and when we’re out there we have a better understanding of where we need to go and what we need to do.”
Leave a Reply