The Chicago Bears made the playoffs and defeated their bitter rivals, the Green Bay Packers, in the Wild Card round of the NFL playoffs last season, the first year of the partnership between young quarterback Caleb Williams and head coach Ben Johnson.
Williams flashed his talent throughout the season and put his penchant for late-game heroics on display multiple times. However, Williams’ stats painted a more pedestrian picture. He finished the campaign with 3,942 yards passing, 27 touchdowns, and seven interceptions, resulting in a 58.2 QBR that ranked 16th in the league.
Now, one former NFL player turned analyst isn’t mincing words in his evaluation of the Bears’ young star.
“I don’t think he’s a good quarterback right now,” Mark Schlereth said in an appearance on The Herd. “But I think he’s one of the most dynamic playmakers in the National Football League. He makes throws that are one of one. He makes throws that nobody else in the league makes.”
“I don’t think he’s a good quarterback right now. But he is one of the most dynamic playmakers in the NFL… Missed throws, inaccurate throws, shoddy footwork in the pocket – need to be improved upon.”@jasonrmcintyre and @markschlereth talk Bears QB Caleb Williams pic.twitter.com/6ER1NEQbmJ
— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) July 27, 2026
“I look at Caleb Williams, remember, I think it was at the end of the season, but Ben Johnson said, hey man, we should be completing 70% of our passes,” Schlereth continued.
“Caleb Williams completed 58% of his passes.”
To his credit, Schlereth provided tangible areas where Williams can improve.
“The number of missed throws, inaccurate throws, shoddy footwork in the pocket, like all those things need to be improved upon… He has got to be better at doing the boring. He has got to grow and mature as a quarterback to be considered elite.”
Williams, who won the Heisman Trophy in his college days for the USC Trojans, is certainly one of the league’s fastest rising stars, as evidenced by his featuring on the cover of Madden NFL 27. However, Schlereth isn’t completely off base when he touches on the lack of consistency in his game, and if Williams can’t iron out the wrinkles, last season’s success may end up just being a flash in the pan.
About Qwame Skinner
Qwame Skinner has loved both writing and sports his entire life. In addition to his sports coverage at Comeback Media, Qwame writes novels, and his debut; The First Casualty, an adult fantasy, is out now.