Team president Kevin Warren doesn’t make the Chicago Bears’ football decisions. However, he has made it clear since taking his current position that he intends to be involved in the process alongside GM Ryan Poles. That meant being at every meeting with top draft prospects, getting to know them, and informing them about the organization. It is his right as the top decision-maker in the organization. Warren was right there throughout the entire process as the Bears moved towards selecting Caleb Williams #1 overall.
He thought he had a good grasp of the type of player the team was getting. While the talent has always been obvious, something else has manifested in the past month that drove home to him how smart the decision to select Williams was. Warren explained during a meeting with fans at the Lincoln Forum at the Union League Club of Chicago.
“The thing that’s really special is his competitive spirit. … “ Warren said. “He’s a passionate young man, he’s a leader. And he’s won at every single level.
“He’s determined to do all he can to be exceptional, to be great, and to work hard. He doesn’t act like your normal top pick in the draft. He’s there early … he’s there late. And he’s doing all he can do be able to be an absolutely exceptional quarterback.”
It is safe to say Williams’ work ethic isn’t a problem. His obsession with greatness hasn’t changed. The stories seeping out of Halas Hall already speak for themselves.
Kevin Warren knows the importance Williams has.
This organization has been haunted by quarterback problems for the past 40 years—or 70, if you prefer — since Jim McMahon never reached his full potential due to injuries. Mitch Trubisky and Justin Fields were supposed to change those fortunes. Both showed flashes but never found the consistency as pocket passers to make the leap. Williams already shows a keen understanding of this challenge. He’s been putting in extra time every day to learn the intricacies of the position he’ll need for the NFL level.
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Teammates and coaches have already noticed his commitment to the job. It has bled into the rest of the locker room. Everybody is focused on the task at hand, with no distractions. The quarterback sets the tone. While Williams might be jovial and all about positive energy, don’t be fooled. He is a maniacal competitor. Losing is anathema to him. Kevin Warren can already sense that. He’s seen the type before with guys like Kurt Warner and Brett Favre. If his expectations for Williams were high before, they keep going up now.
@Dr. Melhus — Bears GM, Ryan Poles would not be the first person ever, to have hired his eventual successor. Bears assistant GM, Ian Cunningam has acquitted himself very well — particularly in the Rome Odunze and Austin Booker situations — in which he restrained the impetuous Mr. Poles from squandering draft choices. GM Poles has had the rather dubious honor of selecting at the top of each round in back-to-back NFL drafts — by virtue of. . .let’s see — oh yes, the Chicago Bears’ 10-24 win-loss record, under his direction. This is not denigration — rather, mere historical… Read more »
John Wayne ain’t got nothing on his fringe game, hell no.?
I’m with citizen34 on this one. Warren needs to get on the job of building a new stadium and leave the football stuff to Poles. We already have an assistant GM. Warren so far has come up with a lame plan to spend billions on a stadium the same sized as what they have now! Just with a dome and a big window. BIG WIP. The entire plan is crap. The Bears would still be paying rent to Chicago. For something they paid a couple billion dollars to build. And now he’s wasting his time getting involved with players. At… Read more »
@TGena: I will again remind you that before Kevin Warren was hired, Ian Cunningham was brought in. Who hired him? Ryan Poles. If Poles is smart enough to know that he needs an assistant GM like Ian, power to him. Poles has absolutely nailed the first round of the draft the last two years. ’23 pick 1.1 turned into Moore, Wright, Stevenson, ’24 pick 1.1 which became Williams, and a 2nd in ’25. ’24 pick 1.1 Williams, ’24 pick 1.9 Odunze. This two year sequence is probably a top five for drafting over two years, all time, for every team… Read more »
I don’t know what Kevin Warren is yet. But, I was happy to read that he was at “meeting(s) with top draft prospects.” Clearly, Warren was observing Ryan Poles as closely as he was the various players. Kevin Warren also had to see Ian Cunningham working with Poles and the Bears coaches and scouts — and in particular, must have noted Cunningham’s reported influence in the decision not to trade up in order to draft Rome Odunze — thereby, saving the Bears a likely early 2025 draft pick (Poles loves to trade future 2nd-round picks, “for fun”). Thankfully, someone finally… Read more »