Bear Digest

QB Analyst Sees Caleb Williams' Biggest Weak Spot No Flaw at All

One connected analyst at the Super Bowl couldn't have been more complimentary of the Bears passer and even sees criticism becoming less pervasive in 2026.
Gene Chamberlain|
Caleb Williams gets loose during pregame warmups before the Bears' loss to the Detroit Lions.
Caleb Williams gets loose during pregame warmups before the Bears' loss to the Detroit Lions. | David Banks-Imagn Images

In this story:

Chicago Bears

Anyone who thought the Bears would simply fade away now that they've had the great comeback season under Ben Johnson might be disappointed to read or hear what QB analyst Chris Simms believes about quarterback Caleb Williams and his coach.

Not only is Williams' completion percentage good enough, but he's a trendsetter of sorts. The trend is bringing back the big play in passing games, instead of looking mainly for completion percentage.

Speaking from the Super Bowl with WGN's Jarrett Payton, Walter's son, Simms declared something about Williams no one would have said last year during the nation's brief love affair with Jayden Daniels. Simms would take Williams over Daniels any day.

"First off, I always said he was the No. 1 pick in the draft and I would say if I had to redraft right now, he's still the No. 1 pick in the draft," Simms said.

Redraft's are stupid, let's pretend garbage, but in this case Simms is not changing anything he hasn't already stated. In 2024, he had Williams ranked as the 20th best NFL quarterback and that was an entirely unheard of place for a rookie to be in his annual rankings.

The completion percentage problem is a real thing because it keeps the Bears from achieving some consistency and also because Johnson himself threw out 70% as last year's goal. Williams came nowhere near it and his 58.1% was the lowest completion percentage for a starting quarterback who led his team into the playoffs since Andrew Luck in 2012.

There was no replacing those big plays generated by Williams during all of the  seven fourth-quarter comebacks made. When you're shooting at big game in rough conditions, lower percentages are to be expected.

"If I have to hear one more stupid comment about, 'Oh his completion percentage...,' Simms told Payton. "First off, this isn't 2008 anymore. We don't care about it as much anymore. The guys that are going to the Super Bowl and making plays and your best quarterbacks are making plays.

"It's not about throwing for 74%, right? That's the big thing.

And Caleb Williams can do stuff that I would go only Lamar (Jackson) and (Patrick) Mahomes  and Josh Allen can do."

As for the percentage, don't expect it so low again even if he is big-play hunting so much.

"And he learned and got rewired as an out-of-pocket quarterback this year," Simms said. "And you saw the progress, and it's only going to get better."

The pairing with Johnson was one many questioned at first because the Bears coach never had to work with an inexperienced passer as a coordinator in Detroit. It didn't matter.

"Ben Johnson is as good as it gets," Simms told Payton. "I would have bet the house on that. He is without question one of the three or four greatest offensive minds in the sport. Right? (Kyle) Shanahan, (Sean) McVay, Josh (McDaniel), the OC of the Patriots, right?

"It's Ben Johnson who might be leading the charge right now as far as that, so I'm a huge fan of his."

Simms might want to be a little slower to brush off that completion percentage,  though.

Drake Maye led the NFL in completion percentage at 72%, and as a result was able to have more chances with the ball. Those let him finish at 8.9 yards per attempt. That not only was 2.0 yards better per attempt than Williams' mundane average, but it led the NFL.

As a result, he was able to lead the NFL in passer rating (113.5) and has his team in the Super Bowl.

Big plays AND completion percentage improvement need to be Williams' aim for the 2026 season.

He hadn't shown enough of either heading into this season but did so after his game picked up in Johnson's attack.  It's safe to assume his second season in the same offense for the first time since his last year at USC gets him the better percentage needed to push up all of his passing stats, if not the Bears' win total.

More Chicago Bears News

Sign Up For the Bears Daily Digest - OnSI’s Free Chicago Bears Newsletter

X: BearsOnSI

Published
Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.