This fantasy football season, you may have trouble choosing between two quarterbacks with ties to the Chicago Bears. Current quarterback Caleb Williams and former first-round pick Justin Fields both feature high upside. However, each also possesses understandable drawbacks that make fantasy team owners hesitant to draft them.
Here, we’ll go over what to expect from each to help you make a stronger decision in your drafts.
Caleb Williams 2025 Outlook
To say Williams was a disappointment in 2024 would be an understatement. The first overall draft pick finished the year with reasonable numbers: 20 touchdowns and 3,541 yards. But his fantasy impact was quite lacking.
Williams finished seven games with less than 10 fantasy points and averaged 15 points per game over a full season. His peaks were encouraging, but he was far too inconsistent with a low floor.
The Bears made it a point to stack talent around him last offseason. They brought in two wide receivers, the veteran Keenan Allen and rookie Rome Odunze. Unfortunately, the coaching proved too weak to overcome.
It’ll be a similar story entering year two. The Bears drafted two more receiving threats, TE Colston Loveland and WR Luther Burden III, to bolster preexisting talent. Plus, they also upgraded the offensive line massively earlier in the offseason, upgrading all three interior positions, highlighted by guard Joe Thuney.
Caleb Williams spike weeks as a rookie (fantasy points):
23.6, 29.6, 26.9, 26.1, 22.8
Even in a year with a terrible scheme, Williams showed a high weekly ceiling.
Now with Ben Johnson and a stacked group of pass-catchers, Williams is worth buying.
— Frank Ammirante (@FAmmiranteTFJ) May 24, 2025
However, their biggest addition will stay on the sidelines. The Bears hired former Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson as the head coach. Johnson is known as an offensive guru and is credited with turning the Lions’ offense into a powerhouse. Part of this includes revitalizing quarterback Jared Goff after he was cast off by the Los Angeles Rams.
In Chicago, Johnson will get a new, talented young quarterback to work with. It’s almost too good to be true for Williams as he kicks off his sophomore season. The question is whether he can overcome a rough rookie campaign and quickly adapt to the new coach and scheme.
There’s little reason to doubt either Williams or Johnson, but the youth of both suggests that this may take some time to get rolling. It’s possible that their brilliance can right the ship instantly and hit the ground running, but more often than not, these things take time to settle.
Justin Fields 2025 Outlook
Fields has had a turbulent start to his career as a former 11th overall draft pick. A part of that was the dysfunction around him in Chicago and then Pittsburgh last year. That said, he has also done little to secure a starting spot.
Regardless, he’s been given one more shot to become the guy with the New York Jets. New York will offer him something the Steelers did not: security. His only competition at the position is 36-year-old Tyrod Taylor. Thus, Fields should see a much longer leash this time around.
In 2024, Fields was a massive weapon in his six games started. He ran for 289 yards and five touchdowns, while throwing for five more. He peaked with a 32-point outing against the Colts in week four. Against the Chargers, he still scored 18.4 fantasy points despite rushing for just six total yards.
In his 2022 and 2023 seasons in Chicago, he averaged 19.7 and 17.7 fantasy points per game, respectively, despite relatively low passing totals.
Justin Fields averaged 19.2 PPG in fantasy this year (QB8 in PPG).
If you take out the one game he was injured in – he averaged 20.4 PPG (QB4 behind only Allen, Hurts, & Lamar).
Justin Fields still has ELITE fantasy upside. pic.twitter.com/RnYbUeLUqP
— David J. Gautieri (@GuruFantasyWrld) January 2, 2024
Fields is one of the elite rushing quarterbacks in the league, rivaling Lamar Jackson and Jayden Daniels. His limitations as a passer make him far less reliable than those two as a weekly asset, but his rushing alone gives him a strong floor and ceiling.
The Jets don’t provide quite as high-quality a supporting cast as the Bears do for their quarterback, but it’s still with some merit. The Jets have built a strong offensive line, capped off with drafting tackle Armand Membou, the third first-round pick featured on this line.
Skill position weapons leave far more to be desired, but they still have Fields’ former Ohio State teammate, Garrett Wilson, an ascending young receiver who performed well in bad situations. This will be a run-heavy team anyway, so while more weapons would be great, it won’t be its M.O.
Should I Draft Williams or Fields in 2025?
This one can come down to your preference. I don’t believe either candidate stands out above the other. Williams is likely the safer play, as there is no threat of his benching and the supporting cast around him is impressively complete.
However, the hype around him may grow between now and your drafts. His current ADP sits around QB11, making him a bit more expensive than Fields, who’s currently QB16. In 1QB leagues, going with the cheaper option is often safer than spending up. In superflex leagues, the decision becomes much harder.
In a head-to-head matchup, Fields still has his argument as well. If he were to play 17 games healthy, his ceiling of 1,000+ rushing yards makes him an incredibly safe bet that should make him a more reliable player than Williams on a week-to-week basis.
Should the game slow down for him and he adds a touch more passing production, a top-five quarterback finish for Fields is not out of the question. That said, if Johnson can get career finishes from a non-mobile quarterback like Jared Goff, a similar ceiling exists for Williams.
I’d pick the quarterback you personally have more belief in. I think it’s close enough for you to take a shot on either and feel good about it. If you’re split, then I’d defer to your league settings.
Typically, I’ll lean toward Fields at his cost and relatively safer floor from his rushing ability. However, if you believe the route to safety runs through the passing game and job security, lean on Williams and his upside as a passer.
