After a historic breakout under Ben Johnson, Chicago’s franchise quarterback aims for elite status. Analyst Danny Parkins predicts an MVP-caliber leap following the team's dramatic playoff resurgence.
The Chicago Bears did a lot of things right in 2025.
They went from being one of the worst-performing offenses in the league in 2024 to ending inside the top 15 in numerous metrics.
The Bears made the playoffs and had Soldier Field as a backdrop to a tremendous playoff game that ended with a fourth-quarter comeback win over the Green Bay Packers.
They made it to the Divisional Round, where they lost 20-17 to the Los Angeles Rams in overtime. The Bears far exceeded expectations in just one year under Ben Johnson.
Now, the team is going into a crucial year of the Ryan Poles era in 2026. There is still a lot to fix, especially on defense.
Chicago had the most takeaways in the NFL, but couldn't do much else right on defense. The Bears were in the bottom half of the league in passing yards, rushing yards and points allowed per game.
Sacking the opposing quarterback was an issue, as the Bears ranked 22nd in the league with 35 sacks last season.
However, it was hard to be disappointed with how Caleb Williams did with one season of coaching from Johnson. Williams became the single-season passing yards leader for the franchise, throwing for 3,942 passing yards, 27 touchdowns and seven interceptions.
We saw him grow after what was a revolving door of coaches during his rookie year. Matt Eberflus was fired, and Thomas Brown was named interim head coach. Shane Waldron started the year as offensive coordinator but was fired and replaced by Brown.
After Brown was moved to interim HC, Chris Beatty took over as OC. With some consistency on the coaching staff in 2025, Williams thrived.
All eyes are on Williams and what he'll do next. Luckily, First Things First's Danny Parkins set the bar very high.
He believed it could be an MVP-type of season for Williams, pointing to past experiences with other elite quarterbacks in year two with great head coaches.
"And then on the other side, yeah, but it's Caleb [Williams] in year two with Ben Johnson, and throughout league history, special quarterbacks, year two in system," Parkins said. "That is special system. Those guys like win MVP. Like, that's what happened to Patrick Mahomes. That's what happened to Lamar Jackson. Like, so if we think that Caleb is of that talent, which I do, and we think Ben Johnson is of that caliber of offensive coach, which I do, the argument that the Bears will be better is simply they're going to have a top-five offense, and they're going to have a quarterback who is in the MVP conversation come December."
Recent NFL history supports what Parkins said about Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson.
After sitting behind Alex Smith and learning the Kansas City Chiefs' offense as a rookie, Mahomes took the league by storm and won the MVP in 2018.
Jackson didn't see the field right away either, playing in 16 games with seven starts as a rookie in 2018. He became the full-time starter in 2019 and won his first MVP award.
There's nothing that suggests Williams can't win the MVP in 2026. Even the numbers back this up.
Could Williams take an even further leap in 2026 and win the MVP?