National Football League

Caleb Williams career timeline: QB's journey from top recruit to Bears' would-be savior

Updated Sep. 5, 2024 3:12 p.m. ET

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If everything goes right for the Chicago Bears, Sunday will be a day their fans will remember forever.

That is the day Caleb Williams, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, will play his first NFL game as the Bears' starting quarterback. Williams is tasked with changing eons of history — despite being one of the NFL's founding members, the Bears are the only franchise in the league that has never had a quarterback throw for over 4,000 yards in a season.

Caleb Williams: Carmen Vitali on what makes Bears' rookie QB stand out among the rest

Enter Williams, whose start Sunday will complete a dazzling ascent from elite high school recruit in the middle of a global pandemic to unlikely hero in one of college football's biggest rivalries to the face of the sport's new era of player movement to Heisman Trophy winner and generational NFL prospect who has been compared to Patrick Mahomes — even, apparently, by one of Mahomes' most prolific former teammates.

So before Williams takes his biggest step yet, let's look back at his journey to this point:

July 4, 2020

Williams, a consensus five-star quarterback recruit out of Washington, D.C., commits to Oklahoma. Williams still has his senior year of high school ahead of him (he'll graduate and enroll in Oklahoma early after his senior season is canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic), but he figures to become the next quarterback to excel under Sooners head coach Lincoln Riley. 

Spencer Rattler, another former five-star, is expected to start ahead of Williams in 2021, giving the true freshman a season to get acclimated and learn Riley's offense before taking the reins. Here's a snippet of what 247Sports wrote about Williams as a prospect all the way back in Fall 2018, when he was a high school sophomore:

"Dynamic athlete who can devastate defenses with his arm or legs. Great competitor with high intangibles. Natural leader and makes big plays. Strong, accurate arm. Tight release. Can throw 15-yard out, has touch on intermediate throws and throws pretty deep ball. Gets through progressions. Can throw ball 70 yards. Moves well in pocket. Plays poised and relaxed in stressful situations. Has elusiveness in open field. … Elite quarterback who can play early for top-level team. First-round NFL draft potential."

October 9, 2021

Oklahoma enters the Red River Rivalry as the undefeated No. 6-ranked team in the AP poll, but that belies an offense that has looked inconsistent behind Rattler — and everyone in the stadium, including archrival No. 21 Texas, knows it. Oklahoma enters needing a statement victory after four of the Sooners' five wins to open the season were within one-score margins against lesser opponents.

As "We Want Caleb" chants rain down from mischievous Texas fans, the Longhorns jump out to a 28-7 first-quarter lead, helped by an interception from Rattler. Williams enters for a fourth-down sneak — and promptly turns it into a 66-yard touchdown run to keep the Sooners in the game. But Texas goes back up 35-17, aided again by a Rattler turnover. Riley then decides to pull the plug on Rattler for good, inserting Williams as the first-string quarterback.

What happens next will cement the 2021 edition of the Red River Rivalry as one of the most memorable editions of the game's storied history. Williams throws for 212 yards and two touchdowns, leading a dramatic comeback for a 55-48 win. Virtually overnight, Williams becomes the Sooners' starting quarterback, a program legend and a real-life superhero.

November 27-28, 2021

Though Williams proves his star power, Oklahoma stumbles twice late in the season, first at Baylor on Nov. 13 in a 27-14 loss and then two weeks later against rival Oklahoma State, as Williams is sacked with under 10 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter to end a bitter 37-33 loss. 

That knocks the Sooners out of the Big 12 title game and College Football Playoff contention, but the real blow comes a day later, when Riley stuns the world by leaving Oklahoma to become the next head coach at USC. The ripple effects are instant and seismic. 

Not only does Rattler enter the transfer portal as had been widely expected after his benching, but several top recruits immediately flip from Oklahoma to USC. The question soon becomes whether Williams will also follow Riley out of Oklahoma, but he initially commits to staying — at least through Oklahoma's Alamo Bowl matchup against Oregon.

December 2021-January 2022

Williams excels in the Alamo Bowl to the tune of 242 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions in a 47-32 win. However, any hopes among Sooner fans for their quarterback staying are dashed when Williams enters the transfer portal soon after the new year. After a whirlwind few weeks that include rumors connecting him to UCLA and Wisconsin among others, Williams reunites with Riley at USC as one of the most high-profile transfers in the portal era.

November 19-26, 2022

Williams delivers on the immense hype following him to USC, cementing himself as one of the best players in the country and leading the Trojans back into national title contention for the first time in well over a decade. After recording a 28-to-1 touchdown-to-interception ratio in his first nine games, Williams saves the best for last. 

Against crosstown rival UCLA in the Rose Bowl on Nov. 19, Williams becomes the first player in USC history to account for over 500 yards of total offense in a single game, throwing for 470 yards and rushing for 33 more, leading the Trojans to a dramatic 48-45 win over the Bruins. 

One week later against Notre Dame — hours after fellow Heisman Trophy contender C.J. Stroud's Ohio State suffered a stunning home loss to Michigan — Williams effectively clinches his own Heisman campaign with four total touchdowns and a trademark magical long scramble on national television to bring the Trojans to the brink of the College Football Playoff.

The rest of Williams' season would be much more of a disappointment. USC is upset by Utah in the Pac-12 Championship Game after Williams injures his hamstring in the first quarter, spoiling the Trojans' playoff hopes. Despite Williams' 462 pass yards and five touchdowns in the Cotton Bowl a month later, USC falls to Tulane 46-45 thanks to a stunning fourth-quarter defensive collapse. But those statement rivalry wins in late November would lead to…

December 10, 2022

Caleb Williams wins the 88th Heisman Trophy in a landslide, beating out Stroud, TCU's Max Duggan and Georgia's Stetson Bennett. With his parents, Riley and USC's entire offensive line in attendance, Williams receives his crowning achievement after setting several Trojans program single-season records including yards of total offense (4,919), passing completions (333), passes attempted (500), most passing yards gained (4,537) and most touchdown passes thrown (42). 

The 2024 NFL Draft is still well over a year away, but Williams has already solidified himself as its top prospect.

January 8, 2023

Down in a close game against the Indianapolis Colts, the Houston Texans inexplicably stage a desperate drive in the fourth quarter that results in a game-winning touchdown pass on fourth and 20 with less than a minute remaining — and changes the course of NFL history. 

[Read more: The Butterfly Effect: How one play led Bears to Caleb Williams, franchise renewal]

The Texans would have clinched the first overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft with a loss. Instead, that pick goes to the Bears. With a young quarterback in Justin Fields already in the fold, Chicago general manager Ryan Poles ultimately trades the pick to the Carolina Panthers in exchange for a package that includes wide receiver DJ Moore and several of their draft picks, including the Panthers' first-round selection in 2024.

September 30, 2023

In front of a national audience on FOX's "Big Noon Saturday," Williams throws for a career-high six touchdowns — including five in the first half — in a 48-41 Trojans win over Colorado. Williams and the Trojans seemed well on their way to a blowout in the first half, but a second-half defensive collapse allowed Deion and Shedeur Sanders' Buffaloes to get back in the game and forces USC to sweat it out despite Williams' excellence.

USC's Caleb Williams' MONSTER SIX-TOUCHDOWN game vs. Colorado | CFB on FOX

It would prove an omen for the rest of USC's season. USC needs triple overtime — and some more Williams brilliance — to beat Arizona at home the following week, then goes on to lose five of its last six games, though Williams is hardly at fault as the Trojans' defense slips to one of the worst in the country by every available metric. 

December 31, 2023

The Carolina Panthers are shut out in a 26-0 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, falling to 2-14 and ensuring that they will finish with the worst record (ultimately 2-15) in the 2023 NFL season. Thanks to their trade with the Bears last offseason, that means Chicago once again owns the No. 1 overall pick. Two weeks later, Williams makes it official on his end and declares for the 2024 NFL Draft.

March 16, 2024

This time, as the hype around Williams' star potential grows, the Bears keep the pick and trade Fields to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Poles also makes several moves to bolster Chicago's offense around its incoming rookie, including the addition of veteran wide receiver Keenan Allen who, in very unsubtle fashion, turns up at Williams' pre-draft pro day with the Bears contingent and even donning Bears gear.

April 25, 2024

The Bears make official what has been a certainty for weeks, selecting Caleb Williams first overall with the pick they got from the Panthers. Then they continue to bolster the wide receiver room around Williams by selecting standout Washington wide receiver Rome Odunze with their own first-rounder at No. 9 overall. 

Williams is officially a Chicago Bear, and he enters one of the most favorable environments for a No. 1 overall pick in recent history.

Bears chairman on Caleb Williams: There's 'going to be growing pains'

May 10, 2024

Just two weeks into Williams' NFL career, Bears coach Matt Eberflus erases all doubt about whether Williams will be the team's starting quarterback in the fall.

"No question," Eberflus tells a reporter. "He's the starter."

September 2, 2024

Williams is named one of the Bears' offensive team captains heading into the 2024 season, another move for Chicago to empower the rookie signal-caller who they hope will reverse decades of Bears quarterback history.

[Read more: What the Bears need from QB Caleb Williams in his rookie season]

September 8, 2024

Caleb Williams is set to make his NFL debut as starting quarterback for the Chicago Bears. The rest, as they say, is up to history.

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