Jon Gruden didn’t wait for the Bears’ season opener to make a bold call on Caleb Williams.
Before Williams has even played a snap in his third NFL season, Gruden is already talking about him like a quarterback on the verge of breaking into the league’s top tier. On the latest episode of The Gruden Family Football Show, the former coach laid out why he likes Chicago this season, then turned his attention to Williams and went big.
“Caleb Williams is starting to emerge as one of the best quarterbacks in the league,” Gruden said. “His arm talent is phenomenal.”
That’s a serious statement for any young quarterback, and an especially loaded one for Williams, who entered the league as the No. 1 overall pick in 2024 with the kind of ceiling Chicago has chased for decades. His second season gave the Bears enough reason to believe that trajectory is real. Gruden thinks there’s another step coming.
He wasn’t finished with the offense, either. Gruden pointed to the Bears’ supporting cast and singled out Luther Burden III and Kalif Raymond as players who could give Williams more ways to hurt defenses.
“Luther Burden's going to emerge as a quality receiver,” Gruden said. “I like the addition of Kalif Raymond because he's a jack of all trades.
He'll do the reverses, the arounds, the jet sweeps. They'll get him the ball in space.”
From there, Gruden boiled down his view of the roster in plain terms.
“They're a better team all around.”
One of the biggest reasons he feels that way came earlier in his breakdown. Gruden called Chicago’s running game the “coolest thing” he saw while studying teams during the offseason, and he specifically praised right tackle Darnell Wright for how often the Bears run behind him.
That kind of ground game matters for Williams. It can set up cleaner looks, especially when Chicago leans on motion and play action to move him outside the pocket. In those situations, Gruden sees Williams’ arm talent as a weapon that can stress defenses even when the picture isn’t perfect.
Williams still has plenty left to prove before he can be placed alongside the NFL’s elite. Gruden didn’t say he’s there yet. But “starting to emerge as one of the best quarterbacks in the league” is hardly faint praise.
For a Bears franchise that has spent years searching for the answer at quarterback, Gruden thinks it may already be in the building.
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Caleb Williams Only Reached Chicago Because One Team Blew It
Caleb Williams is in Chicago because the Bears took the aggressive route to secure the No. 1 pick, a move that ultimately came from trading with Carolina and reshaping the top of the draft. Williams has already shown he understands the scale of what the Bears invested to get him, noting his appreciation for the chance to join a historic franchise and help move it forward.
For Chicago, the trade was about more than landing a quarterback. It was a bet on a long-term centerpiece, the kind of swing the franchise needed after years of searching for stability at the position, and it now leaves both teams measured against the same deal every time Williams takes the field. The part that still hangs over it is how Carolinas side of the move will be remembered if Williams develops into the kind of player the Bears believe they finally found. [Read more 🡒]
Kyler Gordon Situation Is Starting To Feel Like A Bigger Bears Problem
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Former Bears coach Dave Wannstedt added to the concern by questioning whether Gordon will even make it back this season, and the uncertainty has only sharpened the pressure on Ben Johnson and Ryan Poles to have answers they do not seem to have yet. For a defense that counted on Gordon as part of its backbone, the longer this lingers, the more it stops looking like a simple injury update and starts looking like a real problem. [Read more 🡒]
Caleb Williams And Ben Johnson Could Be The Bears' Most Explosive Bet Yet
Caleb Williams already looks like the kind of quarterback Ben Johnson can build an offense around, because his game naturally leans toward aggression. He is a shot taker, and that matters in a Bears system that wants to live on explosive plays downfield, whether they come through the air or by way of the run game. Chicago showed last season it can stress defenses with big gains in both passing and rushing, and that template gives this pairing a clear identity.
The intrigue now is how far that fit can go once the offense gets deeper into its second season with Williams and Johnson working together. If the Bears keep leaning into the same formula, the ceiling is obvious: more chunk plays, more stress on opposing defenses, and a chance for Williams to become the kind of quarterback who turns design and daring into regular offense. The question is no longer whether the pieces make sense, but how explosive they can become when everything starts clicking. [Read more 🡒]