Examining the 'Caleb Williams growth' piece of 2026 Bears improvement pie
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Rahimi Harrison-Grody. Midday's Tindall 2. On Chicago Sports Radio, 104.3 The Score.
We're both really excited about it. We're going to be so much further ahead from our communication standpoint than what we were a year ago. Having gone through it, there is no learning quite like doing it. I can show him as much tape as I possibly can, and yet he's got to go through it and make some mistakes to truly learn from it. I think we're going to be so much further ahead just from a passing game standpoint. I'm really encouraged by it. I was really impressed by how much better he got over the course of the season.
What improvements can we expect from Caleb Williams in 2026?
I look forward to being able to capitalize on that coming back and continue to forge ahead.
That is Ben Johnson at the Combine talking about what is in store for Caleb Williams. This is Rahimi Harrison-Grody on a Friday. Dan Weterer, the other half of the Take the North podcast sitting in today.
No, the half of the Take the North. Mark's the other half.
Today?
Yes. Where is he, by the way? I don't know. He texted me during the first segment.
He's a free man. He's allowed to come and go as he pleases. I love it. I do not manage him. And for that, I am grateful. I don't know what I would do if I was Mark Rody's manager. I'd probably tell him to hang out with Dave the Cat more.
There it is. Yeah.
How does communication impact the partnership between Caleb Williams and Ben Johnson?
Probably. But we're happy to have you in.
Glad to be here.
I think you and I, I feel like sometimes our football brain is similar in the questions we have. It's like natural reporter questions, natural thought process. I have definitely ranted to you over text sometimes about Bear stuff and your patience is appreciated. I want to add to that. I think for me, the measurement of the 2026 season comes down to is the improvement of Caleb Williams and Ben Johnson together enough to override a first-place schedule? A likely loss of takeaway, I'd say numbers, right? Like you're not going to have the same amount of takeaways the next year, probably.
He lost 19 of your 23 interceptions from the roster.
Every player who had multiple interceptions on the roster last year is no longer a Bear. So you have that also. Then you know what you're dealing with on the defensive line, we think, barring some random free agent who may sign and somebody else getting restructured. So is the improvement of your quarterback, which we have seen in the NFL, will override everything? Can Kayla Williams' improvement in the second year with Ben Johnson be enough to override all of these other questions we have about the Bears? That is how I will measure this year.
I love that this is a topic because it is really the story of the 2026 Bears. When you look at the pie chart of what's going to dictate their success, We can spend a lot of time talking about what happened to free agency. We can unpack the draft at whatever depth you want to go to and do it very, very sophisticated and with extreme detail. We can talk about what still is needed on the defensive front. But you zoom out and you look at the pie chart and you say Ben and Caleb 2.0, that's probably 66% to 75% of what is going to drive the success of of the Bears this season two weeks from now we're going to get the actual schedule we're going to see how it lays out we'll probably talk about that for three days right like this is how this is the toughest stretch ultimately it all circles back to what steps does Caleb take what does Ben do to get those steps to be taken and it starts now with what they're doing in the offseason program and I just you know like the clip we heard coming in out of the break
was, I think to me, an indicator of a little bit of the roller coaster that Ben rode through the first couple months of the off season, where it's like he goes through the tape of last season and goes, man, we got a long way to go. But then he looks at it and says, boy, we've come a long way, right? And so there's this feeling of like, okay, there's some encouragement here because we saw the amount of progress that was made in 2025. You replicate that in 2026.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:01–0:41
2
What improvements can we expect from Caleb Williams in 2026?
0:41–1:18
3
How does communication impact the partnership between Caleb Williams and Ben Johnson?
1:18–4:04
4
What challenges does Caleb face in his second year with Ben Johnson?
4:04–7:05
5
Can Caleb Williams' growth offset the Bears' tougher schedule?
7:05–9:12
6
What role does coaching play in a quarterback's development?
9:12–11:54
7
How can the Bears improve their offensive production in 2026?
11:54–13:15
Speakers
4 identifiedMore from Rahimi & Grote Show
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Full Show — September 24, 2026
Brett Kollman breaks down Bears' struggles against Vikings, 'chaotic' NFC North
Danny Parkins sounds off on discourse surrounding Caleb Williams' injury (Hour 2)
Cubs squander chance to clinch playoff berth in losing to Marlins, 3-2 (Hour 1)
Danny Parkins sounds off on discourse surrounding Caleb Williams' injury