Caleb Williams Compared to Polarizing Super Bowl Champ Twice in the Same Day

In the world of NFL news and analysis, players frequently earn comparisons to legends of the past. But when two people make the same comparison in one day, and one of those people is the former legend himself, it's worth paying attention to. That's what happened on Thursday when both Tennessee Titans head coach Robert Saleh and Super Bowl XLVIII champion Russell Wilson drew a line from Caleb Williams to Wilson in his prime.

"He's like a modern day, I don't want to compare the two but, Russell Wilson," Saleh told the media ahead of the Titans' joint practice with the Bears. "When it got to the fourth quarter [against Wilson], you better be up three scores. There's no lead safe with Caleb [Williams]. He's an unbelievable quarterback, he's elite off-schedule, he can do it all."

Later, in an appearance on NFL on CBS, Wilson was asked for his Top 5 game-changing quarterbacks, and he listed Caleb Williams as one of those five. "He reminds me of a young me," Wilson said.

Is Caleb Williams really the next Russell Wilson?

It's hard to deny the similarities between the two players. Both Williams and Wilson have a shorter, stockier build for an NFL quarterback, yet threw some of the most amazing passes NFL fans have ever seen. They each showed an early knack for scrambling and evading the pass rush while waiting for a play to develop. In fact, both Wilson and Williams had exactly 489 rushing yards as rookies.

Most importantly, both Wilson and Williams showed up in the clutch. According to Pro Football Reference, Wilson led eight fourth quarter comeback wins through his first two NFL seasons, matching Williams' production in the same amount of time. Wilson ended his career with 32 comeback wins, good for ninth most in NFL history. Additionally, similar to Wilson's historic comeback win over the Green Bay Packers in the 2014 NFC Championship game, Williams led his own furious fourth quarter comeback in a triumphant Wild Card victory over the Packers last year.

Of course, Wilson was already a Super Bowl champion by the end of his second season, but there's a very good chance Williams would have matched that accomplishment as well if he'd had the famed Legion of Boom defense in 2025. All things considered, the numbers make this comparison a reasonable one.

Would Rusell Wilson's career be a success for Caleb Williams?

At first blush, a Bears quarterback earning comparison to a Super Bowl champion is quite the compliment. However, Russell Wilson is something of a polarizing figure in NFL discussions. Yes, he led his team to back-to-back Super Bowl appearances, winning one, and was a 10-time Pro Bowler. He averaged a 101.9 passer rating in his 10 seasons with the Seahawks. Wilson's career was undoubtedly a successful one.

And yet, Wilson never climbed to the highest peaks of the sport. Not only did he never win an MVP award, he never even received a single MVP vote. He emerged victorious in Super Bowl XLVIII, but linebacker Malcom Smith received MVP honors for that game, not Wilson. Through 14 NFL seasons, he secured just one All-Pro honor, and never a first-team All-Pro.

As aforementioned, Wilson had a good, successful career. But his resume likely falls well short of earning a place in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. There will be plenty of arguments both for and against his Hall of Fame case once he becomes eligible, but I would be shocked if Wilson gets in.

The Chicago Bears did not select Caleb Williams with the first overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft to have a good career, as I've said many times before. They selected Williams with the belief that he would have a Hall of Fame career, one littered with Super Bowl victories and MVP trophies. If his career mimicks Wilson's, he won't be called a failure, but Bears fans will doubtlessly feel like he left a ton of meat on the bone.

Furthermore, Wilson was not drafted with any real expectations of glory. He was a third-round pick, remember. Simply becoming a starter was somewhat of a success, given his draft position. But Williams was the No. 1 pick in a draft class that saw five other quarterbacks selected within the first round. Not only will Williams' career be judged by the expectations of a first overall pick, but it will be forever compared to the careers of Jayden Daniels, Drake Maye, and the rest of his class.

With all that in mind, and given all the pre-draft hype, the expectations placed on Williams and those that he placed on himself, including his goal of winning multiple Super Bowls, the final comparison that Williams earns when his career is over ought to be much closer to Tom Brady than Russell Wilson.

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