When Caleb Williams made his jump from USC to the NFL, most experts had pinpointed what was most special about him. While he had tremendous arm strength, it was his unique scrambling ability that made him such a nightmare for defenses to contain. It wasn’t just his natural speed, either. Williams had an innate ability to sense pressure and slither out of trouble even when pass rushers had him dead to rights. It’s why many took to calling him Houdini. That was his superpower as a quarterback.
Except, no, it isn’t.
Williams believes his greatest strength is elsewhere. He explained as much to Kay Adams on her Up And Adams show.
It may sound arrogant at first. Then, upon closer examination, you realize he’s right. Since his freshman year of college, Williams has thrown 2,229 passes total. In that span, he’s thrown 27 interceptions. He has never thrown double-digit interceptions in a single season. A recent analytics chart emerged detailing which NFL quarterbacks best managed interception risk. Not only was Williams the best in the entire league, but it wasn’t even close. There was nobody within miles of him.
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Caleb Williams manages to be aggressive without being reckless.
Not enough people understand how difficult that is to do. It is such a fine line. Those who can’t toe it often drift into the realm of being called a gunslinger. They attack all the time and accept the consequences of turning it over a lot, despite knowing it can be so detrimental to the team. We’re talking about Brett Favre, Fran Tarkenton, Peyton Manning, Matthew Stafford, and Drew Brees. Then you have those quarterbacks who were elite passers who managed to balance calculated aggressiveness with protecting the football.
Steve Young was one of the first to reach this level in the 1990s, throwing just 80 interceptions on 3,324 passes. However, most will agree that the undisputed king of this style is Aaron Rodgers. The future Hall of Famer has thrown 8,684 passes as a starter in his career. He has just 122 interceptions. He’s cracked double digits only four times. It isn’t surprising that Caleb Williams has a similar approach. Rodgers was his idol growing up. If you’re going to copy anything about his game, his ability to protect the ball would be one.
The irony of this is palpable.
For the longest time, Bears head coaches have sought a quarterback who could limit turnovers. That was the endgame. It was part of why the team struggled to identify good ones. Their priorities were never in the right place. Now here they are with one of the more aggressive quarterbacks in football who also happens to excel at not throwing interceptions. Don’t ever say the football gods don’t have a sense of humor.
| Rank | Quarterback | Team | Interception % | Pass Attempts | Interceptions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michael Penix Jr. | Atlanta Falcons | 1.1% | 276 | 3 |
| 2 | Caleb Williams | Chicago Bears | 1.2% | 568 | 7 |
| 3 | Cam Ward | Tennessee Titans | 1.3% | 540 | 7 |
| 4 | Jalen Hurts | Philadelphia Eagles | 1.3% | 454 | 6 |
| 5 | Matthew Stafford | Los Angeles Rams | 1.3% | 597 | 8 |
| 6 | Jordan Love | Green Bay Packers | 1.4% | 439 | 6 |
| 7 | Jared Goff | Detroit Lions | 1.4% | 578 | 8 |
| 8 | Aaron Rodgers | Pittsburgh Steelers | 1.4% | 498 | 7 |
| 9 | Jaxson Dart | New York Giants | 1.5% | 339 | 5 |
| 10 | Drake Maye | New England Patriots | 1.6% | 492 | 8 |
This is why people can’t stop talking about Williams’ potential. He had the second-best interception percentage in the league last season while throwing the 5th-most attempts. For all the talk about his completion percentage, it isn’t difficult to argue that this proves his efficiency is far better than anybody wants to admit. Beating good quarterbacks is hard enough in this league. Beating one who don’t give you extra chances is the worst.
