Comparison is the thief of joy. In professional sports, it’s also the currency of success. 

Everything is judged relative to your peers — your leash, your respect, even your legacy. That reality hits quarterbacks the hardest, and no one wears that target right now more than Chicago Bears starter Caleb Williams.

Williams polarizes the league just by existing. He breaks the mold of what a quarterback is “supposed” to look and act like. He’s expressive, unapologetic, and wildly talented — and that blend of swagger and aptitude makes him easy to root for or easier to root against, depending on what side of the fence you’re on.

And because he landed in Chicago — the NFL’s notorious quarterback graveyard — the comparisons are louder and more relentless than ever. Instead of celebrating the Bears finally having stability under center for the first time since Jay Cutler, the conversation always shifts back to the same tired and comparative talking point: Did they take the right guy?

Every Jayden Daniels stat line becomes ammunition. Every Drake Maye highlight is a headline. Be great all you want, Caleb — if someone from your class looks better that week, the takes are locked and loaded.

That’s why going into Washington and punching out a road win against Daniels meant something. It didn’t just move the Bears up in the standings — it moved the needle around the narrative. And those narrative games are stacking up quickly for Caleb Williams, because he’s got another one this Sunday.

On Sunday, Williams and the Bears host the New Orleans Saints and quarterback Spencer Rattler — a name that traces back to the most pivotal fork in Caleb’s football journey.

Oklahoma, Lincoln Riley, And a Shift in an Era.

At the turn of the decade, Spencer Rattler was Oklahoma football. Five-star recruit. Documented star of Netflix’s QB1: Beyond the Lights. The next Heisman in waiting and slam dunk first-round pick. Oklahoma’s quarterback assembly line had just produced Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray. Spencer Rattler was supposed to be the next in the pipeline.

And for over a year, he was. As a redshirt freshman in 2020, he led the Big 12 in passing yards and touchdowns and won a conference title. Norman, Oklahoma was his — until Caleb Williams showed up.

Williams, also a five-star, committed to Oklahoma knowing Rattler was the entrenched starter. Head coach Lincoln Riley kept the competition open in name only, but reverted back to Rattler for the start of the 2021 season even though Williams’ high school tape had already made him a star on campus before he threw a college pass.

While Rattler struggled in a 16-13 win over West Virginia, he was booed by his own crowd. “We want Caleb” chants echoed through the stadium. 

Then came the 2021 Red River Rivalry.

Down 28–7 to Texas as the No. 6 ranked team in the country, Riley made the inevitable move at quarterback. Rattler was benched. Williams entered, immediately ripped off an electric 66-yard touchdown on 4th-and-1, and authored one of the wildest comebacks in rivalry history. 

In that moment, the stadium and fanbase shifted their loyalties. The era of Oklahoma football flipped.

Rattler’s career went into a spiral while Williams’ took flight.

Rattler returned briefly in later games , but it was too little, too late. He unsurprisingly hit the portal following that season, transferred to South Carolina, and fought to rebuild what was once an automatic path to the NFL.

Williams eventually followed Riley to USC, won a Heisman, and became the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft by the Chicago Bears. Rattler, two years older, had to grind through five years of college to get his shot — and he slipped all the way to the fifth round, eventually landing in New Orleans during the same draft Caleb went first overall. 

History Revisited At Soldier Field

Two years later, there’s no blatant public beef. Williams said in a press conference with Bears media this week that they don’t talk anymore. Rattler called it “cordial” and even said getting benched was “a blessing in disguise.”

Maybe that’s true. Maybe they've both moved on. But football players rarely forget moments like that. Especially quarterbacks.

Last week, it was Caleb Williams with something to prove. This time, he’s the one with something to protect — and Rattler is the guy with nothing to lose.

The Saints are 1–5 and have no illusions of a making a playoff push, but Rattler has quietly put together 1,217 passing yards, six touchdowns, and just one interception. Three of New Orleans’ losses were within one score, and that doesn’t count a fourth quarter rock fight with Buffalo. This isn’t a rollover opponent. It’s a frisky team with a quarterback looking to reclaim a piece of a story that once belonged to him.

On Sunday, it won’t just be Bears vs. Saints. It’ll be the past nipping at the heels of the present. Caleb Williams may be leading the pack now — but when you’re out front, you’re also the one being hunted. And they say the hungry dogs run faster. 

For the first time since Oklahoma, Caleb is the one with a target on his back — while Spencer Rattler may not be chasing a job anymore, he'll be eager to have the upper hand in the relationship, even if just for one Sunday.