Mike Sando’s QB Tiers place Caleb Williams in Tier 2, with Chicago Bears quarterback tied for 11th

Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams has been placed in Tier 2 in Mike Sando’s annual NFL quarterback tiers list, a ranking built from interviews with NFL executives and coaches who vote anonymously. In the list’s latest release, Williams is also described as tied for 11th overall among 35 veteran quarterbacks evaluated for the tiers.

Sando’s framework, published through The Athletic and summarized by Yahoo Sports, groups quarterbacks into tiers rather than a strict one-to-one ranking. According to the report, the process draws from 50 anonymous voters and compiles perceptions of quarterback quality across the league’s established starters, rather than projecting rookies or prospects.

The Bears’ place in the quarterback conversation is notable because Williams is viewed as more than a statistical passer in the way he is categorized. Being slotted into Tier 2 suggests voters see him as a clear part of the upper middle of the league’s quarterback group, though not grouped with the very top tier at the time of the evaluation.

The distinction matters because Tier lists often function as shorthand for how teams think about the quarterback position in roster planning and media coverage. For Chicago, the evaluation reinforces that Williams is treated as an impact player whose performance is expected to move the offense, even if the anonymous voters stop short of placing him at the very highest tier in this specific poll.

It is also worth noting what the ranking covers, and what it does not. The report describes the list as evaluating 35 veteran quarterbacks, and the voters are executives and coaches. That means the tiers reflect professional assessments at the time of the poll, but they are not a league-wide performance metric like passer rating, EPA, or wins, and the underlying voters and criteria remain anonymous.

For the Bears, the practical question going forward is how the quarterback group’s perception evolves after training camp, the preseason, and the regular season. Williams’ next phase of work will be judged through the same lens voters use, including decision-making, play effectiveness, and how consistently he can raise his team’s offensive floor.