Chicago Bears fans have seen this movie before. They took the first quarterback in a draft only to see somebody they could've had develop into a star. That was Mitch Trubisky going before Patrick Mahomes in 2017. Now it appears to be happening to them again, this time with Caleb Williams as fans watch Drake Maye thrive in New England. The bitter irony is that they took the wrong quarterback from North Carolina. The football gods have a sick sense of humor. Except one person is tired of hearing about it.
Matt Waldman of Football Guys is one of the most respected tape analysts in the industry. He has closely followed the 2024 quarterback class and has been aware of the developing narratives surrounding Williams and Maye. He is tired of hearing the slander towards the Bears' quarterback, and this idea that Maye is multiple tiers above him. Waldman wrote a column explaining why comparing the two is unfair for multiple reasons. It starts with reminding everybody of the damage done to Williams' development last year.
People don't factor that into the conversation nearly enough.
When I hear about the commentary regarding Caleb Williams, I suspect too many people are watching Red Zone.
He's bad, and Ben Johnson knows it. His performances are uneven. He's not consistent enough.
Wrong. Wrong. And, yes, wrong.
Folks are looking at his 61 percent completion percentage, 7.3 yards per attempt, and his 9 passing touchdowns as solid but not in the same tier as fellow rookies Drake Maye or Bo Nix this year. These comparisons are as consequential as basing player analysis on Red Zone.
Nix is in Year 2 of their offenses with legitimate offensive architects on staff. Maye's experience working under center was in an offense that had better fundamental structures in place that you'd expect from an NFL scheme...
...The Bears offensive architect last year was the equivalent of a waiter posing as an architect. Comparing Maye's bad scheming to Williams' situation is like comparing a grape to a kumquat...
...Caleb Williams is not remotely bad. If anything, he's a dynasty value if the Red Zone watchers are buying the narrative. Williams is a starter in many re-draft leagues as QB13 on Sunday and for the season thus far -- and doing it in a new offense.
We forget he endured a disaster in 2024 -- a disaster that none of his rookie peers would have handled any better, much less survived it.
Caleb Williams had zero stability last year.
People can talk about Maye being in a bad situation, too, but that was less about the offensive system and more about the lack of talent around him. Former Patriots offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt at least understood how to build a scheme around a young quarterback. He'd done that to some success in Tampa Bay with Josh Freeman. He also helped Kevin Stefanski do that with Baker Mayfield in Cleveland. Maye had the same head coach and offensive coordinator all season. Caleb Williams had two of the former and three of the latter.
While Maye did change systems this offseason, it didn't really reset his development. That wasn't the case for Williams. Head coach Ben Johnson had to start everything over due to the damage done the previous year. It meant Williams would have to endure some growing pains before he got on track. We've seen that unfold over the first half of this season. Waldman believes there have been more than enough signs that things are going in the right direction. Some patience is required.
