Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show - Is Caleb Williams the best quarterback the Bears have ever had?

Episode Date: January 28, 2026

Marshall Harris and Mark Grote discussed Bears quarterback Caleb Williams' progress in his second NFL season and pondered a question. Is Williams already the best quarterback the Bears have ever had?

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Ring Central, voice of your business. Why have we asked our contractor we found on Angie.com to be our kids' legal guardian? Because he took such good care when redoing our basement that we knew we could trust him to care for our kids, all eight of them. Should something happen to us? Are you my dad now? No, sorry, I do basements. Connecting homeowners with skilled pros for over 30 years. Angie, the one you trust, to find the ones you trust.

Find pros for all your home projects at Angie.com. Campus Files is back with more stories of scandal, crime, and intrigue on college campuses. Campus Files, available now wherever you get your podcasts. Is Caleb Williams the greatest Chicago Bears quarterback ever? Not a question for me. You asked a question. I have a statement. Oh, wow. I am looking forward to you digging into this deeper. We will. We will do that. And we would definitely encourage you to be a part of it throughout this hour that we're going to talk about Caleb Williams and the Bears 312, 64, 64, 67 is the number.

Before we get started, I just want to say, I want to give a shout out to this radio station. And just want to say what a great job everybody did yesterday on the score on, of course, the Tom Shere Matt Rodewald Roast. No, no, no, no, it wasn't that. The tribute to Terry Boers yesterday was just fantastic. and I knew Matt Spiegel would do a great job doing it because of the directions in which he is gone in his career, which seemed to connect to just about everybody, obviously everybody that was on yesterday. So he did a superb job of hosting.

Obviously, Chris Tannahill was probably, you know, doing a whole heck of a lot of work with that as well. so great job by those guys. Russ Matera, I know Connor O'Donnell, Max Curtis, Mitch Rosen, Ryan Porth. I just loved listening to everything. And I'm more of when it comes to Terry Boers, I was a listener to Terry through the years. I didn't know Terry well at all.

It's just weird the way our paths never physically met up here at the score. Like I barely worked with Terry, But I listened to Terry a lot, and I just thought it was a stellar performance yesterday by all parts involved here at the score. So shout out to everybody, including you, Marshall, and Lail, I listened to you guys in the tribute that you guys paid and taking all of the calls. It's the one good thing to come out of things like this, and that is to go down memory lane and give everybody a smile and hear voices you hadn't heard for a long time and didn't realize how much you missed those voices. and the score does those sorts of things, anniversaries, unfortunately, deaths and memorials. We do those things very well here at the score,

and it was just a great job by everybody involved. No, it definitely starts with leadership when you talk about Mitch and Ryan and those guys and then the willingness for people who aren't even on these airwaves anymore, willing to come in and talk about someone who is so important to them, friend, mentor, coworker, and hearing some of those tributes, And I thought my old partner, Dan Bernstein, put it pretty well when he said, you know,

when he thinks about it and you want to be sad, you think about it for a minute and then you end up laughing. Because the good times are what you want to take with you. And when we talk about, you know, when someone that I know has lost someone close to them. Yeah. Something that was said to me many, many, many years ago is something that I will say sincerely. and that is may their memory be a blessing. And I think for all the people who did or did not know Terry Boers but knew of him and were affected by him as even just an audience member as he was putting on a show, his memory is a blessing to them because of what does he vote when you think of the impact that Terry Boers had on the media landscape, on a personal level with so many people. And I thought that really shined through yesterday on our show and during that memorial as well.

Yeah, yeah, it was great. And shout out to Chris Ranji, too. I caught some of his act as well. And he was terrific. And again, like, low-key, like a perfect guy to take the baton from Spiegel. Like, there's a lot of people who could have done that well and would have been qualified to do it. But the two right people did it. It was perfect because, like, Matt had a deeper relationship with Terry, no doubt about it, obviously.

but Chris had sort of the quintessential relationship with him, with the producers had with him, that the update people had with him, that they all looked up to him and what really resonated with me from all the things I heard, everybody wanted to make Terry happy, everybody wanted to make Terry laugh because of the audience and the critic that we knew he was.

So that's all I wanted to say about it, just a shout out to the Boers family and all of that. Like it was a really well done production on the score. And quite frankly, really what it gets down to, Marshall, it was really good radio. It was really, really good radio because of how real it was. And that's the essence of what we do. And it's the essence of the score. Super authentic and necessary from a therapeutic standpoint, from a closure standpoint,

although you're always going to take those memories with you, whether you were someone, as I said, close to him or just, just knew him from listening to him. The other thing that we do really well here at the score on Rahimi Harrison Grotie is to talk about the Chicago Bears. We do seem to do a lot of that. And it's been mostly favorable talk for the last year or so, really. Yeah, yeah, which is very uplifting.

But let's get into this, man, because the Caleb Williams conversation is never-ending. It should never be never-ending. even if he gets to a point where he is winning Super Bowls. It's always – Caleb is always going to be worth discussing, is what I'm saying here, no matter what. He's the quarterback of the Chicago Bears. And the person who is the quarterback of the Chicago Bears is always going to be talked about, whether it's positive, whether it's negative, when things are going good, when things are going to bad, he will be a focal point. You're the quarterback of the Chicago Bears. What I wanted to know at the start of the season is the same question I've been asked.

for the last five years. Do the Bears have a franchise quarterback? I got that answer. I previously stated the Bears have their franchise quarterback. He should be here for a good decade, partnered up with Ben Johnson to do big things for the Bears. And what I came away with after the way the back half of the season went and understanding just how much he had developed in year one under Ben Johnson.

And also understanding the history of quarterbacks for the Chicago Bears, the Bears finally have a guy who not only can lead them to make them a great offensive unit, but they also have the best quarterback they've ever had. And when I said it in my head, I was like, this needs to be brought to people's attention. Caleb Williams is the best quarterback this franchise has ever had. And it says two things. One, it says that Caleb Williams is starting to live up to his draft position. of 1-1 from two years ago.

The other thing it says is the bar is kind of low when you look at the history of quarterbacks for the Bears. I know the first two words people are going to bring up when I say this are Luckman and Sid and not in that order. And I get it. Sid Lugman was that dude. They didn't give out MVP's back

when he played in the 1940s, but he is a four-time NFL champion. He predates the Super Bowl era. He is a six-time all-pro. He led the league in passing yards, passing touchdowns, and pass-er rating three times. He is the most accomplished quarterback in Bears' history, no doubt. He was also running the freaking T formation, which has gone the way of the Model T. So let's be honest about what Sid Legman was and when he did it, and the fact that he did it pre-integration.

That's fair. And there are only 13 teams max when he was working. winning championships. It is a different landscape now, and I present to you Caleb Williams. And before, I'm going to be like, remember Eminem in 8 Mile, final battle, and he just talks badly about himself before, you know, I hand you the mic and you could say something bad about Caleb. I know his completion percentage isn't where he wants, where you want it to be.

But I would argue, as a guy who had more dropped passes than everybody else, that's not all on him. I would also argue I'm good with him dirty balls as opposed to throwing bad balls that end up getting picked off because his completion percentage is put next to his interception percentage

okay with me because you're not throwing the ball to the other team. I would also say unlike his contemporaries Super Bowl era quarterbacks, this is a guy who didn't have a super strong defense to rely on. When you look at the defensive

ranks of his team, total yards, and points allowed, compared to teams in the past that went to the playoffs, it's like night and day. And I know that defense did create some takeaways, but at the same time, the reason they led the league in turnover margin, margin is because he was not giving it away. So Caleb Williams, for me, he's already there. Ring Central's AI receptionist uses voice AI to answer on the first ring, so you'll never miss a call again. In just a few minutes, you can purchase. personalize your own AI receptionist to answer questions, route calls, schedule appointments, and even send texts in multiple languages.

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We only met a month ago. Angie, the one you trust to find the ones you trust. Find pros for all your home projects at Angie.com. Your true crime podcast keeps listeners on the edge of their seats. But here's the real mystery. Why isn't it making more money? Odyssey Creator Lab is here to solve that. We host your show for free.

No fees, no catch. You focus on the suspense. While our sales team brings in advertisers and revenue, Stop leaving money on the table. Apply now at creators.odicy.com and turn your passion for true crime into real revenue. I think that there are, putting on my glasses, there are two realistic challengers for the title

of greatest Chicago Bears quarterback in Chicago Bears history. And by the way, I'm a little freaked out just that we're doing this and that you're proclaiming this and we're going there just because of here we are. You know, Caleb Williams puts on a show in the final six, seven games of the season, and now we have gotten to not only the level of we have a quarterback, and I agree, the Bears have a quarterback.

You've got, this is you, got the quarterback for the next 10 years, have the greatest Bears quarterback in history. It's all happening really fast. You're putting that ring on very quickly. So I am just expressing a little bit of angst, a little bit of discomfort with decision to cohabitate already. Like, it's just, you're two weeks into the relationship. And you're already moving in.

Now you're on one knee at the Bulls game. And I had this happen the other day, by the way. I was the person sitting around the person that proposed at the Bulls Lakers game. It was right next to you? Right in front of me. Right in front of me. They were a beautiful couple. And I kind of noticed that about them.

I'm like, this is a cool-looking couple in front of us. And next thing, I know the guy's on one knee at... Does she hesitate? She didn't, but she laughed at first, the big laugh and then smile. then cried and did all the stuff. And then the camera guy came over. So it was on the Jumbotron. So it was beautiful. But that's the analogy that's like circulating through my head. It's like you're skipping steps. And it's great. Everything is wonderful. Tell me where I'm skipping. Caleb has been great. But I think you're skipping really,

like if the question is, if the statement is, Caleb Williams is the greatest quarterback, the Chicago Bears have ever had. Aren't we skipping steps if we're not giving that a real run for two quarterbacks. Jay Cutler and Jim McMahon. And then there's others in between two. A little bit two-one hit wonderish, like when we start to talk about the Eric Kramer's of the world, and he did have a spectacular season.

I mean, Caleb Williams broke his single season passing record this year. Didn't get to that magical 4,000-yard mark, but he was able to break that. So maybe I'll leave Eric Kramer out. But I do think you have to give some consideration to those two quarterbacks for obvious reasons when it comes to to Jim McMahon. The man won a Super Bowl. He was 46, 15, and O as a Bears starter. His issue was, a six and four in the playoffs, too, which probably could have been better in all honesty. The issue with Jim McMahon was, and this is

a deficit to him and an applause for Caleb, is durability. Jim McMahon never once played a full, what was then a 16-game season. Never. Even in the Super Bowl season, he played in 14 games. So the durability factor does hurt Jim McMahon, but the winning portion of it and the talent of the player, easy to overlook that with Jim McMahon because the defense was elite. And he did have Walter Peyton on his side in his prime for at least a couple of the years that Jim McMahon was there. So let me ask you this serious question. Yeah, yeah. On offense, how many future Hall of Famers does Caleb Williams have at the skill position? How many future Hall of Famers does Caleb Williams have right now?

Like bar none Hall of Famers? Zero. How many MVPs is he playing alongside? How many, does he, wait what? How many MVP's is Caleb Williams playing alongside? Zero. Okay, Jim McMahon? Can I ask that same question about him?

Absolutely. Like Hall of Famers on offense? Okay, well, I guess I'm... Skill position. This is a very quick question to answer. I was going to say, skill position would be Walter. Yeah. That would be it, though.

Yeah. Last I checked, ain't nobody going to the Hall of Fame out of the running back position for Caleb Williams. That's true. So you're saying that Jim had it easy because he had Walter Payton. In that year you're talking about, you mentioned elite defense. I just want to be very clear about that. The number one defense in both points and total yardage. He wasn't being asked to do the things that Caleb had to do.

How many comebacks did he have in the fourth quarter? Six. Okay, how do we grade that? because football was different then. Running the football was more important. You could make an argument then, at least what was valued, was more important. That's the thing that gets twisted sometimes with Jim McMahon specifically. People who watched those, I watched every game Jim McMahon played in with the Bears.

When he had to make throws, when he was allowed to throw the ball, he was very good. And he made big plays. And look, if you want to reduce him to quarterback manager, that's fine because that was more of what it was during that time. But he threw. and he was good and he can make big time plays too. I can't wait to continue this conversation because I have more. All right, Marshall's got more. And you know what?

The phone lines are open. 312, 644, 67, 67. Is Caleb Williams the best quarterback in Bears history? Marshall says yes, I'm just pushing back. I don't know what conclusion I'll make by the end of the hour. And the reason I said best and not greatest is something you used to describe it is because greatest, I think, connotates something different than best. That just means I turn on the tape,

watch this guy play, watch these other guys play. You're going to believe your lying eyes or not? Right, right. And I don't want to go back to Sid Luckman. You made good points on him. I watched the video, both in the black and white and when it got to color. Those were also 11 game seasons.

You know what I mean? Yeah. It keeps advancing. There's a lot of parameters I think we have to keep in mind and try to do a better job of defining. But come on in. 312, 644, 67, 67 is the number. The text lines are open.

Well, it's Rahimi Harrison Grotie on Chicago Sports Radio 670, the score. Ring Central's AI receptionist uses voice AI to answer on the first ring, so you'll never miss a call again. In just a few minutes, you can personalize your own AI receptionist to answer questions, route calls, schedule appointments, and even send texts in multiple languages. Plus, it's easy to scale. Create unlimited AI receptionists across any phone system. It's all powered by one reliable platform for effortless AI communications. See for yourself at ringcentral.com.

Ring Central, voice of your business. Do you have a dark curiosity? Heart Starts Pounding, Horrors, Hauntings, and Mysteries is a weekly podcast hosted by me, Kailen Moore. Check out Heart Starts Pounding on the free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts.