How Caleb Williams Has Impressed Bears Hall of Famer Brian Urlacher the Most

Brian Urlacher has watched a lot of Bears football. He says this version feels different, and it starts with the quarterback.

Rich opened by noting that Bears fans are "out of their skulls right now" and asked Urlacher what he sees. "It's different watching them from teams I've seen in the past," Urlacher said. "Caleb obviously, we can start there."

His case for Caleb Williams is about the full package. "There's guys that can throw the ball great at the quarterback position. There's guys that can run it pretty well. He does both really well." But what Urlacher likes most is something a former linebacker would notice. "He doesn't put the football in jeopardy. Like his turnover numbers every year, even his rookie year, have been really low. It's hard to do at that position."

Urlacher was just as fired up about the rest of the operation. He praised Ben Johnson's commitment to the run game and pointed to a time of possession edge of 35 minutes to 25. "They're just crushing teams," he said. "It's just fun."

Then he turned to the defense. Adding Jeffery Simmons in the middle has helped everyone around him, and Urlacher singled out Sweat's night. "You throw Simmons in the middle and Sweat, he has three sacks," Urlacher said, before griping that two were called back. On a third-and-15, he joked, "There has to be a penalty on the defense somewhere. You can't make a stop on third down and not be a penalty. It doesn't make sense."

"I can go on and on about how good they're playing, how excited I am," Urlacher said. "It's great to see the Bears have a quarterback that it's like elite. It's amazing."

Rich wanted to take it one piece at a time, starting with Williams. He agreed the most exciting thing is that Williams doesn't put the ball in harm's way, and argued that part of the reason is accuracy. Rich described a quarterback who will put a deep ball "in a spot that is only where his guy can get it," and do it on the run, off-platform.

"He is the real thing," Urlacher said.

Urlacher brought up a throw from last year's playoffs against the Rams, a ball dropped "in the bucket over his shoulder in the corner of the end zone," a throw of about 47 yards with Williams falling backwards. The point of the memory was simple: the accuracy.

There was one small detour. Urlacher first called them the St. Louis Rams before correcting himself to the LA Rams. His explanation: "I played against the St. Louis Rams. That's what they are to me."

He closed where he started. Williams is accurate on the run and in the pocket, and his completion percentage is way up this year. "But the thing I'm most impressed with is the lack of turnovers," Urlacher said, "which is really exciting as a defensive guy."