Fans ignite Caleb Williams vs. Jayden Daniels debate after Commanders QB's playoff heroics - "Bears passed on another superstar"

Jayden Daniels led his Commanders to a win over the Buccaneers in the NFC Wild Card Round on the road and it inevitably led to Bears' rookie Caleb Williams being brought up in the discussion. Both the Chicago quarterback and his Washington counterpart were taken in the 2024 NFL Draft with the first two picks.

Each of them has won a Heisman Trophy in their college careers and they were widely lauded as the two best quarterbacks in the draft class. The Bears had the first overall pick and decided to go with Caleb Williams, which allowed the Commanders to choose Jayden Daniels with the second selection.

Since then, their paths have diverged. Chicago finished the 2024 season with a 5-12 record and failed to qualify for the postseason. Every other team in the NFC North had a winning record and made it to the playoffs.

Meanwhile, Washington ended their year with a 12-5 record and made it past the regular season as the sixth seed. And now Jayden Daniels has won a playoff game to proceed to the Divisional Round.

Fans took to X/Twitter to point out the difference in their rookie seasons and some said that the Bears had made a mistake in taking Caleb Williams over Jayden Daniels. Here are some of the comments.

The sentiment was widespread and quite unanimous on the internet. Here are some more posts that back it up.

"Caleb Williams got work to do, Jayden Daniels kicking his ass right now" - said one.

"Caleb Williams is NOT better than Jayden Daniels That ship has sailed. Sorry" - noted another.

"jayden daniels is who caleb williams [sic] thinks he is" - commented a third.

"Imagine having the 1st pick in the NFL Draft and not taking Jayden Daniels" - added a fourth.

Good news and bad news for Bears with Caleb Williams after Jayden Daniels' playoff win

The Chicago Bears must be feeling sick watching Jayden Daniels leading the Washington Commanders in the playoffs. One assumes that Caleb Williams is not too happy about it either.

However, the good news is that both the rookie quarterbacks finished with roughly the same passing yards in the regular season. The Chicago star had 3,541 compared to the Washington player's 3,568. Daniels had five more touchdowns (25 to 20) but Williams had three fewer interceptions (6 to 9).

The bad news is that while the Commanders' quarterback will benefit from stability, the Bears star has to deal with a new coaching regime next year, which would force him to learn a new playbook and start all over again.