One thing that makes Combine Week so much fun every off-season is that rumors hit overdrive. Every top decision-maker from NFL teams gathers in the same place, creating a chance for dialogue about free agency, trades, and the draft. Some of those discussions inevitably leak to the media, leading to all sorts of informed speculation. No team is surrounded by more of that going into Indianapolis than the Chicago Bears. Almost 100% of it concerns what they have planned at the quarterback position.
The running assumption among most national outlets is GM Ryan Poles will trade Justin Fields, keep the #1 overall pick, and take a quarterback. That quarterback is almost sure to be USC’s Caleb Williams. Many evaluators believe he is one of the best prospects to come out of college in years. Some even use the word “generational.” While this prediction still may come true, make no mistake. Williams isn’t the only QB the Bears appear to like. Not according to Bill Zimmerman of Windy City Gridiron.
Two names have their attention.
I’ve heard the Chicago Bears do love the physical gifts of Caleb Williams, but even Poles mentioned about “getting to know the person” in his press conference at the end of the year and they haven’t had the opportunity to do that yet with any of these QBs. They are doing their due diligence on all of them, and they’ll start meeting with them at the combine this week.
I’ve also heard the Bears are intrigued by Jayden Daniels and JJ McCarthy. I haven’t heard any connections to Drake Maye yet, but wait a couple of days, and I’m sure there’ll be one soon enough.
The Chicago Bears liking Daniels and McCarthy isn’t a surprise.
Daniels is the reigning Heisman trophy winner. He had a superlative season at LSU, throwing 40 touchdown passes and rushing for 10 more. He accounted for almost 5,000 total yards. The fact he did this in the SEC can’t be understated. There have always been flashes of excellence with him, even dating back to his freshman year at Arizona State. We finally got to see what he can be in 2023.
As for McCarthy, he checks different boxes. In two years as a starter for Michigan, he lost only one game and won the national championship. While he never threw many passes, he was extremely efficient, with 49 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. Evaluators praise his poise, moxie, and ice-cold mentality in high-pressure situations. He’s also a local kid, coming from La Grange Park. We know Poles loves guys like that.
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Both players have a huge opportunity to gain ground on Williams at the combine. Daniels will conduct interviews but not throw in drills. McCarthy will do both. If they make a strong enough impression, the Chicago Bears might change their plans for April.
There’s going to be soooo many ppl on here slamming CW for not throwing.. but these exact same ppl will pound the table for MHJ.. who by the way, is also not doing drills at the combine. Same ppl that hammered away at CW for not playing in his bowl game, but completelyyyy overlook that MHJ, and most other top 50+ players did the same. I love the hypocrisy 🙂. I will be glad once we know what is happening with Fields so that these conversations can move along. If I read one more comment about how Fields had no… Read more »
I like McCarthy in a Bears uniform. A trade down from #1 for additional draft capital, and then a trade down a few spots from #9 for some more draft capital and McCarthy might just be the move….
Michigan’s JJ McCarthy is rising on everybody’s board.
McCarthy, Nix, Penix and Rattler will throw at the combine — while Williams and Daniels have opted out.
It may not matter to management but I would be very interested in seeing my future #1 pick compete in this setting.
However, with Ryan Poles at the helm — it hardly matters, at all.
Which is why you trade the pick for a haul and take another top QB. It’s a no brainer Poles. Let’s build a TEAM.
@BearCub30 It is disappointing when players opt out of combine activities, and I think the NFL would be better served to force a shift back to the combine and away from all these BS pro-days. I’m not sure how to do it, but you could go the “carrot” route, I suppose, and offer some perk for participation as an add-on to their rookie contract…maybe a higher percentage of it being guaranteed or something (since I don’t believe they are all fully guaranteed now). On the flipside, the NFL could go the “stick” route in addition to, or instead of the… Read more »