Silvy: What defines a successful season for Caleb Williams?

Caleb Williams stood near the south endzone of Soldier Field and completed a touchdown pass.

And then another one.

Not one defensive player picked up the receiver in coverage. The pass rush was non-existent.

It’s exactly the way Ben Johnson drew it up. Yet, nobody cheered.

All these things happened because it was literally scripted this way.

This wasn’t a Bears fantasy. And you know it wasn’t from preseason game No. 1.

It was Williams in shorts and a T-shirt going through a 70-plus rep throwing program against air with Johnson by his side.

When the game began, Williams and several other Bears starters stood and watched. For many of us, it was the first time we didn’t understand the method behind Johnson’s madness. It won’t be the last.

If anyone needed actual game action, wasn’t it Caleb? Did Johnson think his quarterback wasn’t ready to play as he continues to digest the offense?

Williams’ training camp has been uneven at best, and isn’t the best way to get better at football to play football?

We’ll finally get to see that Sunday night against the Bills. I’m sure no one will overreact to what we see from Williams.

We have to trust that Johnson is QB Yoda, and soon Caleb will become the young Jedi quarterback he was drafted to be. We wanted Johnson hired for this and much more. So while it’s okay to ask why, we have no choice but to trust the young coach. Johnson gets the benefit of the doubt from me until he proves otherwise.

That’s the point of this whole process: to develop Caleb into a successful quarterback this season and eventually the star Bears fans have been yearning for. It brings up an interesting question: what does a successful season look like for Williams?

For me, that’s not defined by numbers or wins, at least this season. We’ll know it when we see it. By the end of the year, I need Caleb to clearly show that the Bears have a franchise quarterback going forward. If he struggles Sunday or even in September and October, so be it. I need this to be great for the next decade, not just for nine or 10 wins this year. No more debates of drafting Williams No. 1. We need to know that a championship window is opening because the Bears finally have that dude.

There is always gray, especially in a sports debate, so here are some other, more tangible goals for this year for Williams:

• Caleb’s processing. This is the most important thing going forward. His reads must be decisive. The time Williams holds onto the football must decrease.

• Sacks. This must go down dramatically. Williams was sacked 68 times last year, the third most in NFL history. And while the offense and protection were a hot mess, Williams could’ve avoided many of them. Jared Goff was sacked about 30 times per season with Johnson calling plays. Williams must help reduce that number by at least 25 sacks.

• Completion percentage. I continue to believe Williams will be the player he was hyped to be, but I have been disappointed in his accuracy – both last year and so far in camp. His 62.5% was close to the bottom for starting QBs. Johnson wants this at 70%. I’ll take an increase of five points to 67.5%.

As much as we’ve publicized that the Bears are the only team not to have a quarterback to throw for 4,000 yards and 30 touchdowns, this is the least important thing to me. If Williams takes care of the things listed above, the numbers and wins will eventually come.

So while I may ask why Johnson is doing things a certain way in preseason games, it’s not something to stress over, at least yet. We just can’t be asking that same question at the end of the season.

Show us the way Ben Kenobi, you’re our only hope.

• Marc Silverman shares his opinions on the Bears weekly for Shaw Local. Tune in and listen to the “Waddle & Silvy” show weekdays from 2 to 6 p.m. on ESPN 1000.