The Iceman Is Coming: Caleb Williams Is Putting the League on Notice.
Written By: Brandon Pulmano
Founder | Sideline Society Media
Sideline Society Media Founder, Brandon Pulmano links up with Superstar Quarterback Caleb Williams during NBA All-Star Weekend. (2026)
USC Quarterback: Caleb Williams during pre game.
Caleb Williams wins the Heisman Trophy. (2022)
Caleb Williams becomes the 1st Chicago Bear ever to don the cover of EA Sports Madden NFL 27.
A year ago the conversation around Chicago Bears franchise quarterback Caleb Williams was ugly. He had two coordinators Shane Waldron and Thomas Brown his rookie year. The No. 1 overall pick during his rookie season looked lost in an offense that never really gave him a chance to breathe. Analysts who once called him generational started reaching for a different word far too quickly.
Yeah that word we all know athletes despise to hear…a bust.
But then former Lions genius offensive coordinator Ben Johnson showed up. Ben Johnson really reminds me of a young Sean McVay and Kyle Shanahan as a play caller. The Bears brought in Johnson to reset everything, and it took time. The offense looked sloppy and disjointed early. But something clicked as the season wore on. The run game found rhythm. Then Caleb Williams found ownership of the huddle, started executing Ben Jonson’s great play calls, and tapped into the Heisman trophy winner we saw at USC.
This wasn't the first time Williams had to claw his way past doubt to get the job he wanted. At Oklahoma, he entered as a true freshman behind Spencer Rattler. At that time Rattler was the guy who was supposed to be the next great Sooners quarterback.
Williams didn't wait his turn he snatched it! He came off the bench against Texas in the Red River Rivalry down 28 points and nearly pulled off the comeback, forcing his way into the starting role by the next game. He ended up keeping it the rest of the season.
Then he left along with Lincoln Riley who took the USC job. Caleb Williams walked away from a starting gig at a program he'd already taken over to bet on himself in Los Angeles. That gamble was the best decision he could have made.
He won the Heisman Trophy in his first season as a Trojan. At the University of Southern California he showed flashes of a generational quarterback who was terrorizing the NFL. That quarterback is none other Patrick Mahomes arguably the best quarterback in the league.
Caleb Williams became the first pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.
By the end of last season, Williams had thrown for a franchise record 3,942 yards. Twenty-seven touchdowns against just seven interceptions. Eleven wins plus an NFC North title. A trip to the divisional round, an insane touchdown throw against the Rams to tie the game, but ultimately losing the NFC Championship Game in overtime.
But the number that mattered most wasn't on the stat sheet. It was Seven fourth-quarter comebacks, stacked across the regular season and the playoffs, each one building a reputation that no box score can capture. Teammates started calling him Ice Man. Caleb Williams play earned him one of the coldest nicknames in the league.
Caleb Williams landed at No. 51 on the NFL's Top 100 Players of 2026 list, just shy of cracking the top 50. He's only the second Bears quarterback to ever make the list, joining Justin Fields. This time the company is different though. He sits ahead of rival Green Bay Packers franchise quarterback Jordan Love. The biggest name he is ahead of his is 2X MVP Lamar Jackson from the Baltimore Ravens.
None of this satisfies Caleb Williams yet. His completion percentage sat at 58.1 percent last season, and Williams has said the number bothers him more than any accolade excites him. He wants the ball placed better, the offense on the field longer, and turnovers gone entirely. That hunger is exactly why the noise around him has changed shape.
Where the questions used to be about whether Williams could survive in the league, they're now about how high his ceiling actually goes. Year two under Ben Johnson will start differently than year one did.
The Chicago Bears offense will only get more dangerous with a generational quarterback under center alongside a genius play caller. Don’t be surprised if you see the Iceman Caleb Williams holding a MVP trophy maybe even a Lombardi in the near future.
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