The Chicago Bears took on the Cincinnati Bengals in their third preseason game on Saturday. The Bears came out on top in a big way with a 27-3 victory. The Bears remain undefeated in the preseason thanks to the stellar play of rookie quarterback and No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, Caleb Williams.
Williams was spectacular once again in his second outing as a pro. He completed six of his 13 pass attempts for 75 yards and made some dazzling throws to his pass catchers—the 22-year-old looks like every bit of the No. 1 overall pick and then some.
Photo by Quinn Harris/Getty Images
Williams has had the NFL world buzzing thus far, and lately, he’s caught the attention of Dolphins wide receiver and All-Pro Tyreek Hill. Hill went so far as to compare Williams to his former superstar quarterback and three-time Super Bowl winner, Patrick Mahomes.
Although Hill didn’t necessarily say ‘Patrick Mahomes,’ he indeed hinted at it in his latest post on Twitter/X.
Caleb Williams so nice he remind me of ……
— Ty Hill (@cheetah) August 17, 2024
Hill and Mahomes were teammates for five seasons in Kansas City and won Super Bowl 54 together.
Hill isn’t the only one who believes Williams has the intangibles and skillset of Mahomes. Many made his comparison leading up to the draft in April, including NFL draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah. Jeremiah noted that “there are similarities there” between Mahomes and Williams.
“You don’t want to compare somebody to the best player on the planet, but just in terms of how (Williams) kind of plays, with the creativity and a little flair and all the different throws he can make in terms of driving the ball, layering the ball, extending plays, all those things, there are similarities there,” said Jeremiah. (Mahomes) needed some time to clean things up and got a chance to sit for a year (in Kansas City). Obviously, I don’t think Caleb is going to be afforded the same luxury in that department. But I think you can put a plan in place where you put more on his plate the longer that he goes.
“Mahomes’ situation at Texas Tech was, I thought, very similar to Caleb’s situation at USC. … Pat’s last year at Texas Tech, they were 128th in scoring defense. (In 2023) USC was 121st. (Williams) was constantly chasing points. I thought that led to some of the habits that creeped in a little bit. … He lost eight games at USC. They gave up an average of 43 points in those games. He was 12-0 when they managed to allow less than 34 points. It’s tough to play quarterback when you’re chasing points like that constantly.”
While the comparisons to Mahomes are highly praised, Williams responded to the comparison and said there are things Mahomes could do that he can’t.
“There’s things that he does, physically — obviously, I’m not Patrick Mahomes and I’m not in his brain — but things that he does physically that I don’t think that I can’t do,” said Williams.
“So, I just call it respect, and hopefully soon I’ll be able to see him and have a good battle.”
The former Trojan has all the tools to be a great NFL quarterback one day. Nonetheless, he’ll need to take it game by game and be the best version of himself that he can be. If he can do that, maybe he’ll be in the upper echelon of quarterbacks soon enough alongside Mahomes.
More news: Bears’ Caleb Williams Makes Magic In Second Preseason Game vs Bengals
