Caleb Williams and Drake Maye have been tied together since the 2024 NFL draft, and Thursday night at Soldier Field gave Ryan Clark another reason to keep the comparison alive.
The former NFL safety, now an ESPN analyst, spent part of Thursday’s episode of The Pivot Podcast going through film of both quarterbacks, and his takeaway was less about deciding who has the edge and more about showing how each one bends the position in a different way. Williams and Maye both entered the league with massive expectations, and two years later, the question of which team got the better quarterback still hangs around.
Clark’s first focus was Williams, and the throws he picked out were the kind most quarterbacks are coached to avoid. One came against the Atlanta Falcons, when Williams slid inside the pocket and still managed to fit a tough pass to tight end Colston Loveland. The angle alone made Clark stop and take notice.
"Your body is just not supposed to be able to do that and throw this football," Clark said.
He pointed to another play from earlier in the season, this time with Williams rolling to his right and uncorking a throw back across the field. The body position was awkward, the mechanics unorthodox, and Clark made it clear he thought the play belonged in its own category.
"This is not coached. This is also just not even okay," Clark explained.
That’s the challenge with Williams: standard quarterback rules do not always apply. He will attempt throws that coaches usually discourage, and more often than not he makes them look far easier than they should be.
There is risk in that style, too, because the same improvisation that creates big plays can also create trouble. But Chicago has started working with that creativity instead of trying to strip it away, and under Ben Johnson the Bears have built an offense that does not ask Williams to save every series on his own.
When Clark shifted to Maye, the lens changed. Instead of highlighting wild arm angles and off-platform chaos, he zeroed in on the Patriots quarterback’s ability to process the defense, understand how coverage is unfolding and place the ball where only his target can get it.
On one throw, Maye read the coverage as it developed and delivered a pass across the field that forced the cornerback to chase the receiver instead of making a play on the ball. Clark liked the placement, but he also liked the bigger picture: Maye is seeing the field well and getting rid of the ball efficiently.
"I love the way that he's reading the field and getting the ball out of his hands," Clark said.
Maye is not just winning from the pocket, though. Clark also pointed to his mobility, showing a play in which the quarterback escaped a defender and picked up yards with his legs. That dual-threat ability matters against Chicago, especially with Dennis Allen willing to send extra pressure.
What Clark’s breakdown really showed is that the two quarterbacks do not need to look alike to be effective. Williams can turn a play that should be dead into something explosive with a throw that seems almost impossible. Maye can pick apart a defense by finding the right matchup and getting the ball out before the coverage can recover.
Clark stopped short of crowning one over the other. Instead, he made the case that this debate goes deeper than passing numbers and highlight clips. Thursday’s game gives Williams another chance to show why the Bears took him first overall in 2024, while Maye, drafted two picks later, gets his own shot to make a statement.
Two quarterbacks. Same draft class. Very different ways of taking over a game.
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