Caleb Williams has heard about the topic of his completion percentage plenty of times. The 58.1 number was the worst among starting quarterbacks last season. Most view that as his fatal flaw. You can’t win a championship if you’re barely completing over half of your passes. Williams has acknowledged the issue many times and vowed to fix it. What people aren’t sure about is how. History shows that quarterbacks who come into the league with a certain completion rate don’t drastically improve it over time…unless you’re Drew Brees.
The Hall of Fame quarterback wasn’t known as the most precise passer during his early years in the NFL. He hovered around 62% for the first six seasons of his career. Then, almost out of nowhere, he jumped to 69.1% over the rest of his career. What was his secret? Brees got the chance to speak with Williams in a production meeting ahead of the Chicago Bears‘ opener in Carolina. The two talked football, and the legend imparted some surprisingly simple advice. Adam Amin, Brees’ broadcast partner, revealed what it was on 104.3 The Score.
“You know what the difference is between a 60% passer and a 70% passer? Three completions.”
Drew Brees is conveying to Williams how much the little things matter.
Hunting for the big play is fine. That is a great mindset to have. However, it shouldn’t be done at the sacrifice of the smaller plays. Unless you’re careful, those stack up over time. A misfire here or a drop there can derail drives and take points off the board. Williams doesn’t have to overthink this thing. Just find three more completions each game. Last season, that would’ve equated to 51 more completions, which would’ve brought his total from 330 to 381. That would’ve given him a highly respectable 67.08% for the year.
Remember, Williams averaged 11.9 yards per completion last year. That would’ve equated to 963 additional yards, which would’ve brought his total to 4,904 yards. Even if you cut those added yards in half, it’s still fantastic output. This is what Drew Brees is talking about. Hunting for those three extra completions is not a bad thing. They may seem minor in the moment, but they can stack up over the course of a game. Williams has seen it work already. Go watch his performance in London against Jacksonville as a rookie. He didn’t press, taking easier completions, and stayed ahead of the chains.
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Brees is actually the perfect counterbalance to Williams.
The Bears quarterback has a style of play that is the complete antithesis of how Brees played. He’s a scrambler who can make magic outside the pocket. Brees was strictly a pocket guy, which meant he had to play the chess match. Take what the defense gives you and save the big moves for the right time. That is why he might be a perfect sounding board for Williams. He can teach him a different way to play the game. If Williams can incorporate those lessons, he immediately becomes so much harder to defend.
It is essentially what happened with Patrick Mahomes in Kansas City. He started out as a dangerous scrambler that sliced up defenses with off-script magic. However, over time, he learned to play more from the pocket and take easy completions when they were there. Williams doesn’t have to overthink the process. Just find three extra completions each week. Doesn’t matter if they’re for 4 yards or 24. If you can do that, you’re playing at a far higher level.
