Few quarterbacks have entered the NFL with as much hype as Caleb Williams. But after two seasons with the Chicago Bears, not everyone is convinced the signal-caller has justified being a No.1 draft pick. And recently, three-time Super Bowl champion Mark Schlereth offered a brutal assessment by noting what separates Williams from the elite quarterback class.

“Caleb Williams is not a good quarterback,” said Schlereth on The Stinkin’ Truth Podcast. “He’s a dynamic athlete. He makes big-time plays, but is he a good quarterback? No, he’s not a good quarterback because he doesn’t play on schedule. My evaluation is, watch how many times they get into a late game in the third quarter or fourth quarter and they’re down 21 to seven, right? And then he holds a ball, he scrambles around, he makes three big throws, and all of a sudden they win a game 21-24 like that. Like that’s not playing quarterback at an efficient level. That’s being a dynamic playmaker.

“He’s not a great quarterback. He’s a great playmaker. And when it comes to off-schedule football, the guy is probably about as good as it gets. He is Kyler Murray with more height. That’s who he is. Now, that doesn’t mean he can’t get better.”

In 34 regular-season games over the last two seasons, Caleb Williams completed 681 of 1,130 passes for 7,483 yards and 47 passing touchdowns. The numbers may look elite on the surface, but the negative around the QB is directed to his efficiency. In 2025 alone, Williams finished near the bottom of the league with a low 58.1% completion rate. Elite quarterbacks like Drake Maye (72%) generally control the short-to-intermediate game with high accuracy.

While his elite, off-schedule playmaking talent is undeniable, people like Mark Schlereth separate a dynamic playmaker from a Tier 1 elite quarterback like Patrick Mahomes or Josh Allen. The Chicago Bears signal-caller also falls under the same category.

While there is a three-inch height difference between Kyler Murray and Caleb Williams, many draw similarities between the two quarterbacks. And it is mainly because of their playing styles. According to Schlereth, both quarterbacks excel at off-schedule football. The former NFL star believes Williams scrambles instead of making a quick, clean pass within the designed rhythm and relies far more on throwing on the run than on using pure foot speed to pick up first downs.

When it comes to numbers, Murray wrapped up the 2025 season with a much better 68.3% completion percentage than the Bears’ QB. However, Williams is working to shut out the noise around him and has been training hard this offseason. Meanwhile, as soon as Schlereth’s comments gained traction in public, the Bears QB reposted the three-time Super Bowl champ’s comments on his X account, but chose not to react.