Has Grote been too critical of Caleb Williams? | Take The North
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What are the initial thoughts on Caleb Williams as a quarterback?
And one of the main reasons that the Bears are good and that hopefully this will actually be sustained over the years is because it would appear that they have quarterback and coach. I do want to talk about the quarterback a little bit and Caleb Williams. And first, I'll ask you, Mark, Caleb Wilson. I don't know what the penalty is for that joke.
So you get really old in a hurry.
So I thought, Hey, well, you're, you're the perfect person to throw this at. I don't think it was, it's not just Caleb Wilson. It's also Dalen Swain because that reminds me of Dale Swain, the Cubs manager back in what, 2012, 2013, when you had one of the most atrocious rosters and a hundred lost Cubs team with David DeJesus and Nate
sheer holds and all those cats that were building up yes right yeah so that's that's troublesome yeah what's covered uh i think it was a super bowl in new york it must have been covered a super bowl in new york and the next morning i flew out and uh got to arizona in mesa in time for a dale swain morning press conference oh god what a That's one of my great moments for me personally that, you know, I always like to hustle.
How has Caleb Williams' performance been viewed by the media?
And that was tough logistically. And I was always kind of proud of myself.
Were you like, I got to ask him some Brian LaHare questions. I've got to get there on time.
Yeah, right, right. Yeah, that was the hard part was knowing what to ask. But that's a different story. Those were actually, to me, they were still good times, but obviously better days lay ahead for the Cubs.
Yeah, it happened pretty quickly. Where are you with Caleb Williams heading into the season? I don't know how you've heard. I know you've heard the plaudits and some of the hyperbole being on the cover of Madden. There are national pundits of consequence that are putting him in the top five. Some are calling him the best quarterback in the league. He is the darling. Based on what he did in the second half of the season, he is the darling of the national media, which we should probably appreciate because it seems like it goes the converse, the antithesis so many times. But boy, as high as his profile was, he is, even if you don't want to call him a superstar yet on the field, he is a superstar right now in the sports world.
Yeah, absolutely. I feel the same way now as I did at the end of last season. I almost hesitate to say it because I think I was maybe even on this podcast when we talked about it. Again, there was blowback. I just remember that. People don't want to hear that he's anything but great. I think Caleb Williams proved that he definitely can be the top five – quarterback, the elite quarterback, if you want to call him that, that the Bears expect. But I don't think he's there yet. And I still think there's still a possibility that he might not get there. My point was, this might be what he is. But even that is still better than Trubisky and Fields because we know he can win playoff games. We know he can get to the playoffs.
This is a much higher floor. And so that's my I'm still there. And frankly, it's back to it all goes back to the thing that I guess caused a lot of consternation or conversation, at least this week. And that's the completion percentage. I mean, you can poo poo that all you want, but that's a huge factor. Remember, I would say say this. I've said this 15 times already, but. The Bears had a lot of goals last year, and one of the few ones they missed, they missed by a ton, and that was for Caleb Williams, if you remember, to complete 70% of his passes.
70.
He did it 58. To me, in a Ben Johnson offense, I'm sorry. That's a red flag. I understand that there are times he threw the ball away. I understand there are times he had receivers drop passes, but even if you include all those, those situations. That still only takes him up into the mid-60s, which is, frankly, average in the NFL and below what the two quarterbacks who were in the Super Bowl last year complete. Completion percentage is very important, and it's not just throwing the ball. He needs to be fundamentally better.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
What are the initial thoughts on Caleb Williams as a quarterback?
0:00–1:13
2
How has Caleb Williams' performance been viewed by the media?
1:13–6:08
3
What criticisms have been raised about Caleb Williams' skills?
6:08–9:12
4
What are the expectations for Caleb Williams heading into the season?
9:12–10:29
Speakers
2 identifiedMore from Rahimi & Grote Show
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