Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show - Does Bears quarterback Caleb Williams need to 'do less'?

Episode Date: May 27, 2026

Leila Rahimi and Mark Grote discussed what Bears coaches believe quarterback Caleb Williams can improve on in 2026 in his third NFL season. Does Williams need to do less at times on the field?

You're listening to Rahimi Harrison Grody on Sports Radio 1043, The Score. Or is closing. Nah, I can make any throw. I mean, I believe you, Caleb Williams, but I just don't necessarily know that they are all necessary. This is Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 1043 The Score. And Mark, you spent a lot of time at Hallis Hall last week talking to Bears' assistant coaches. And I think you had some really good answers out of it.

Yeah, you know, Dan and I, Weeder, that is, did an episode recently. on the Take North podcast. You can go check it out if you want wherever you get your podcast. We did a whole Caleb Williams episode and it was based on some of the plaudits that Caleb Williams is deservedly getting from the national audience,

including Mike Florio, who's got him down as I think his number two quarterback. Colin Cowherd had him in the top five, I think. Colin Coward also, we might not have to talk about his amount of bears because he's getting real bearsy. Okay. And he does, he is based here, I think, too, and loves Chicago.

His wife is from Chicago. Right, though. There's a lot of bears to be had for Colin. You are right about that. Write that down. That Colin Cowherd. I hear people might be into that show. He's got a future. He knows what he's doing.

A lot of people say he's like the original hot take guy, too, like before even Stephen A. Smith and everybody. But anyway. So it's getting to the – and Dan and I, we did a podcast again about, you know, three weeks ago saying, look, yeah, it's all great. Like what he did last, he had seven comeback wins last year. They trailed – and six of the games trailed in the final two. minutes. And a lot of the reasons that they won those games is because of the throws by Caleb Williams led the Bears to a playoff win after being down 21 to 3 against the Green Bay Packers. So I know all the great things that Caleb Williams did last year. It's just a little bit quick to

be like, yeah, he's top three all of a sudden. And the reason we said that is because there are three quarters that you still have to work with before you get to the fourth quarter of the game. I mean, that's a compelling thought process, that there are three other quarter. of a football game. There are. And big if true. And wouldn't it be nice to be blowing these teams out as opposed to biting your nails and being stressed out at the ends of games

as rewarding as they were last year? Yes. So J.T. Barrett, second year quarterbacks coach for the Chicago Bears, was expressing the do less attitude for Caleb Williams. Listen to this. For him, it was one of those things where we just don't have to work as hard for our money. Like, those times where we could just work through our progression and get the ball out on time instead of having to create an extent of play. So I think that was more of the conversation where it was like, hey, my guy, I know you just made this crazy play.

That was really cool. But we had a guy come up wide underneath that you just pop into it. Then he does the running and now you're not as tired. So having those conversations with him to help me realize like, hey, I don't have to do as much compared to maybe the past years or just him playing in general. So that's when he gets that even when it's like a really impressive highlight real Absolutely you're explaining it the easier more efficient way he's straight up Absolutely because I mean there's come a time where y'all saw it late in the game where our guys bent over huffing and puffing He's like yeah it's because you're running everywhere when you didn't have to

So I think those conversations because with him he wants to be more efficient right It wants to have that ownership where he doesn't have to necessarily always take off and run and try to extend plays in that aspect. So with that, I think for him has been really good, being able to see those clips again, be like, oh, I could just get it to my tie-in here and kick it to my back here instead of trying to also figure out what the defense is doing, like, what's the coverage, where it's like, hey, I'll go through my progression, boom, boom, boom, there's going to be somebody that's going to be available for me. This is married up with that. But Toronto said he said he really wants to see Caleb be more boring as a quarterback in

2012. Is that essentially what you're saying there? Yeah, like, do less. There's a conversation we have where do less. It's like you're doing a lot right now. Just do less. And do less as simple as, like I said, kicking it to flat or, you know, like just taking what's given more so, where it's like, yeah,

could you hold on to the ball and make a crazy play? You could. But right now it's not necessary. Second quarter. Yeah, it's not necessary. All good. J.T. Barrett Bears' quarterback's coach right there.

And I will say specifically to that, I don't expect this to be. something that Caleb Williams just gets down right away. Because he, look, the reason he was considered to be a generational quarterback and a consensus number one overall quarterback is because of the off-platform, spectacular throws that he made at USC. It was not because he was a pocket quarterback. It was not because he was in a pro system at USC.

It was because of the spectacular. So I got time for Caleb Williams to work on that and to not always make the easy play because he wants home runs, Ben Johnson wants home runs, but there are times when you have to take your layups, and that's what, in a very transparent and very easygoing way, J.T. Parrott, Barrett made the point. Well, and he's right. He's right. Receivers want to run those routes.

They will, a 50-yard pass and catch doesn't have to be 50 yards in the air. And I talked to DJ more about this, and he's like, you know, like essentially saying he wants to run. want to catch that ball in the runner. They want to catch and then run. That is something that receivers do want to do. And how much can you do that when you're 24? You can do that a lot. But when you start to get older, you have to reserve your energy. The fourth quarter comebacks become physically that much more taxing. And his teammates too. He said he kind of said with a laugh, you're tiring guys out in these scramble drills when you could have just thrown

it 10 yards to Colcomat up the middle and he could have gone for 10 more. Now, granted, I think there's also a pocket vision discussion that has to be had. How well is he seeing in the pocket? Not just because of his height, but just in general. If that's not something he's used to doing, if he's not used to physically making a reprogression in the pocket as routine as what he is forced to do as an NFL quarterback, then that's something that plays into this as well. I've seen him do it, though.

He was in the quarterback and threw that ball to Colston-Lauvelin over the middle, who took advantage of a misalignment by the, the bangles and got the touchdown in overtime. So I've seen it. It's not like I don't think he can't do it. I think he can. But he's right. Barrett is right.

You don't always have to be the one doing all of this to get the plays that work. To your point, too, about staying in the pocket and what his vision is like, I believe he led the league for starting quarterbacks and deflected balls. All the times that batted balls like with defensive linemen getting their arm. Max Crosby had a couple, I think. Especially on the left. side. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So I mean, Max Crosby had at least two in that single game. Didn't he have the fumble, the strip sack? Yeah. And he had at least one more batted ball.

And by the way, and I know like at this point, it's the, it's the easy thing to go with Caleb Williams, the 58.1 completion percentage, which actually got worse than his rookie year. That'll be a lot better if Caleb was willing. to concede to the simple. And look, I, I, not, we all want the downfield passing game. It's why everybody's in love with Caleb Williams because of his, and he can make any throw, and he could throw the ball as far as his arm strength is probably top three in the league.

So we all want to see that. There are just many times throughout a game where you can do the simple and be better, as he said. I just love it. J.T. Bear. Hey, my guy. Hey, my guy. T.J. Watt was the strip sack. Max Crosby had a near one, but it was T.J. Watt who got the one that I was thinking of.

But the point is, no, Max Crosby definitely had batted passes at the line of script. Oh, yeah, he was in Caleb's face all day that game when the Bears did come back and win. He was disruptive outside of the number of sacks that he actually recorded. He was disruptive. Let that be a lesson to you all. I was going to say, tell me more about that concept. Yeah. It's where you keep the quarterback out of his rhythm, but you don't necessarily. necessarily have sacks to show for it, but you've, you've proven via the I test to be a disruptive presence to the offensive rhythm and desired goal.

The 2023 year of Dio O'Dangbo, which was referenced. Not 2025, but, oh, remember when he was with the Colts and you had eight sacks and nine TFLs and was in the backfield all the time? That's what we're looking for out of Dio Dio. The bangbo. I think the best logical question to ask after that conversation with J.T. Barrett would be, what are the plays where you feel like Caleb Williams can ease into that concept, right?

What are the routes he feels comfortable throwing? Who are the targets that he feels comfortable, at least throwing two or considering first before he has to make a second or a third reading the progression? Avoid the sack. Everybody learned the lesson. Everybody nailed the assignment. The first assignment was avoid the sack.

The next assignment was make a play happen. Now the next one is make a play happen in the boring way, not always the cool way. And I feel like that is, that's the easier part to coach, not necessarily the special. The special is the hard part. So I have every confidence and belief that he can do this. It's just a matter of whether or not it's going to come quickly. And look, and another part of this too is Caleb might just keep doing what he is doing and being spectacular in the fourth.

And that's what he is. And from that will come power and more autonomy. And like eventually it's like he is what he is, let him go. don't worry about it. So Caleb does have some power in this if he continues to win and do well that way. It's just not like, of course we all want to see that again from him, but it's not realistic to think that you're going to have seven comeback wins, six of them in the final two minutes.

That's hard. If you want to be Matt Stafford's age and be an MVP at 37 and throw for 4,000 yards, you're going to have to work less physically than what we saw Caleb Williams have to run yardswise to complete some of these passes and the light. And I think that that is as good of enough motivation for him, long term for the career as any, to try to make that happen more often now to save that energy. I agree. And then here's the thing, too, while I'm hesitant to put Caleb Williams as a top five quarterback right now,

I just don't think there's a need to do it. I don't think he is in the top five yet. He can get there pretty quickly if he gets that other part down and the numbers will go, will skyrocket as well. Profit. Profit and 4,000 yards by it. the way, it came pretty close last year with the 3-942. And 3-1-2 is right on our text line.

You also can't throw sidearm through the defensive line. You are correct. Sometimes it doesn't work. Yeah, you can't be Pat Mahomes on every play. You know, I love a good, I love a good sidearm put out in the infield, but I don't necessarily know that that's always going to be the case. Sometimes, but not always. Yeah.

It's good stuff out of J.T. Barrett. Really good. And the more we know what the coaches want to do, the more we know what the game plan is. Right, and that just validated our thoughts too. Isn't there another, like everybody's making them a top three court? Isn't there a little more to do still? It's okay that there's a little bit more to do for Caleb Williams. There is, but I think that's the beauty of getting the hard part down first.

That's true. And then having to work backwards again. You can't take that away. You're right, that it's such an essential and maybe the most difficult part, but there is still another part. Yeah. And I think that that's where the fun and the magic happens. Maybe that's just me.

Thanks to J.T. Barrett for coaching us as well as his quarterback there. Let's stay with the Bears because next on Rahimi Harrison Grotie, a man who talks football with us has reported that a player who many of you have mentioned as a possible defensive line solution has visited the Bears. So we'll examine next.