Bears' QB Caleb Williams made a promise to his punter, but he hasn't kept his word
originally appeared on The Sporting News

Caleb Williams may still develop into a high-end NFL quarterback for the Chicago Bears.

But the early days of the Williams era, following his selection as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, have been a bit erratic.

That might be best summed up by a couple statistics involving Chicago's punter, Tory Taylor.

Taylor joined the Bears before the 2024 season as a rookie draft pick, same as Williams.

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And when Taylor had his first media availability following the Williams draft pick, he revealed he had gotten a text from the QB that said, "Hey, you're not going to punt too much here."

NFL analyst Bruce Irons provided the counterpoint Monday on X, two weeks into the 2025 season.

"Since this text, Tory Taylor has punted 92 times," Irons writes. "That is the most in the NFL."

You can also compare punt yardage to passing yardage if you want to have more fun with this connection.

Taylor has 4,389 punt yards in his first 19 games with the Bears. Williams has 3,958 passing yards in his first 19 games with the Bears.

That doesn't seem ideal.

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The Bears were just crushed 52-21 on Sunday by the Lions, which followed a blown lead in a Week 1 loss to the Vikings.

This isn't how the second year of Williams, and the first year with new head coach Ben Johnson, was supposed to start.

But here the Bears are, giving ample work to their punter, exactly the opposite of how they would've planned it.

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