The Chicago Bears and every other NFL team were in attendance for the USC pro day. No doubt most of them were there to watch quarterback Caleb Williams, the heavy favorite to be the first off the board next month in the draft. What people still aren’t sure of is whether the Bears will be the ones making that pick. Plenty of people around the league think it’s almost a foregone conclusion. Others think the possibility exists that Washington trades up for the spot, handing the Bears a hefty bag of assets for the hometown star.
Recent updates on meetings between the two sides suggest all positive interactions. The Bears have been impressed with Williams’ even-keel personality and attention to detail. It sounds like the quarterback approved of what Chicago has done overhauling their roster. Coaches and teammates have said great things about Williams, too. There haven’t been any red flags to pop up thus far. According to Bill Zimmerman of Windy City Gridiron, the evaluation is in the home stretch. Things have reached a point where the Bears have all but made their decision.
Caleb Williams is in the pole position.
The only way that changes at this point are if he gets into some kind of trouble, decides he doesn’t want to play for Chicago, or another quarterback somehow woos the Bears during upcoming meetings. While all are possible, none feel likely. It feels like the Bears have gravitated towards Williams ever since they secured the #1 pick at the end of last year. Jayden Daniels and Drake Maye remain in consideration, but neither of them seems to have whatever it is GM Ryan Poles is looking for.
Either way, it appears the Bears have their quarterback. The next question becomes what they plan to do with the 9th overall pick. More than a few fans hope they trade it, aiming to add more to their inventory of four draft picks. However, the allure of landing a potential top wide receiver like Malik Naber or Rome Odunze to pair with Keenan Allen and D.J. Moore might be too good to pass up. If not that, they also may look to add a much-needed second option at pass rusher or a left tackle to replace Braxton Jones.
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It will be a busy next five weeks.
@Barry – debatable. We need a QB. Poles isn’t taking the 2nd best QB. Plus I have no doubts him in a Bears jersey will sell more than fine in this market. I am very certain of that. He is wanting to put his stamp on this team.
@Arnie My guy!!
@jim Jones Caleb is worth a lot more to the Washington franchise than he is to the Chicago franchise. “Hometown kid” sells more tickets and jerseys than does “non-hometown kid.” Soldier Field’s capacity is, like, the number of dead babies in Tom Waddle Told Ya’s basement, and he hasn’t killed -that many- babies.
That’s why Washington would pay a massive premium for 1.01.
Regression on a 3 year period is different than regression in the short term that can better in the long term. I do expect Caleb to put up better passing numbers than Justin. I don’t expect him to break all these records year 1 as I assumed with a defensive led team they will try and run the ball a bunch to minimize putting it on his shoulders. I expect 9-12 wins which would be an upgrade. And I have said that a few times. I also don’t expect him to miss multiple games every year which would go a… Read more »
@jim Jones My issue isn’t so much the unknown with Caleb. It’s that I expect consistent forward progress, and my guess at 10 or 11 wins for 2024 is based on both who the 2024 list of known opponents actually is (another last place schedule and not exactly murderer’s row) and what the team actually did with JF1 last year, including him missing 4 games, the awful start with some of the worst offensive and defensive playcalling ever seen, and the injuries that wiped out virtually the entire offensive line and secondary for a big part of the first quarter/half… Read more »