Mark Schlereth remains a prominent figure in the NFL landscape. He was a Pro Bowl offensive lineman on three Super Bowl championship teams in the 1990s. Following the end of his career, he entered the media as an analyst and, more recently, a podcaster. more recently, a podcaster. Schlereth has never been shy about sharing his opinion on any topic. Well, he certainly picked a big one this week when he came out and said that he believes Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams is overrated. He is “Kyler Murray with hype.” Needless to say, a lot of people took exception to that statement. One of them is Tom Thayer.
Unlike Schlereth, the longtime Bears color commentator doesn’t usually throw his opinion around. He tries to maintain a measured, fair perspective. He was asked about the comments on Kap & J. Hood on ESPN 1000. In a rare show of genuine emotions, Thayer rolled his eyes and uttered a single reply.
“That’s insulting.”
Thayer went on to say that such a criticism of Williams is unfair. The Bears quarterback has demonstrated time after time that he has the mental and physical toughness of a franchise quarterback. He proved it by weathering 68 sacks in 2024 and again with seven 4th quarter comebacks last year. Murray has missed 30 games in his career with various injuries. He has 11 comebacks in the 4th quarter total in his career. Williams already has nine.
Tom Thayer is right on the money.
It is pretty apparent that Schlereth’s entire stance stems from the fact that Williams’ body and play style are similar to Murray’s. He’s slightly undersized, highly mobile, has a cannon for an arm, but relies too much on the big play. The funny part is that Murray’s second-year numbers were remarkably similar to Williams’. There was one major exception. He completed more passes.
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| Passing Stats | Kyler Murray (2020) | Caleb Williams (2025) |
|---|---|---|
| Games Played | 16 | 17 |
| Passing Yards | 3,971 | 3,942 |
| Passing Touchdowns | 26 | 27 |
| Interceptions | 12 | 7 |
| Pass Attempts | 558 | 568 |
| Pass Completions | 375 | 330 |
| Completion % | 67.2% | 58.1% |
| Yards Per Attempt (Y/A) | 7.1 | 6.9 |
| Passer Rating | 94.3 | 90.1 |
| Times Sacked | 27 | 24 |
Williams had more touchdowns, fewer interceptions, and took fewer sacks. Murray made the Pro Bowl that season. So to compare the Bears’ quarterback to him is more of a compliment than Schlereth probably intended. Also, as Tom Thayer pointed out, Murray played most of his career in the same offense. We haven’t seen Williams in the same system two years in a row.
It is odd that Schlereth would pick this stance.
After all, he played with John Elway for a large chunk of his career. The Denver Broncos icon finished higher than 13th in completion percentage only three times across 16 seasons. In fact, he finished in the 20s or lower in six of his first seven seasons. During the two years Denver won the Super Bowl, he was 21st and 14th. Was Schlereth belly-aching about the completion percentage then? Probably not. That is because Elway consistently found ways to win games. Caleb Williams is the exact same way. You’d think it would be something Schlereth would appreciate.
Apparently not. Thayer isn’t one to get swept away by the narrative. He saw what Williams did last season with his own eyes. If completion percentage mattered as much as everybody says, the Bears would’ve gone 6-11. Instead, they won the division title and were an overtime away from the NFC Championship. Much of that was because of Williams. Murray made the playoffs once, managed 137 yards and two interceptions in his only game, and faded away. They are not the same.
