The Chicago Bears faced a tough decision as the 2024 NFL Draft approached. Most experts agreed the class was one of the strongest to come around in years. Having the #1 overall pick meant the Bears would have their choice of anybody they wanted. Do they go with reigning Heisman winner Jayden Daniels from LSU? Do they opt for the modern prototype in Drake Maye from North Carolina, or go with the magician from USC, Caleb Williams? General manager Ryan Poles opted for Williams, who many felt had the most upside.
In the first two years, it looked like the Bears made a mistake. Daniels went to the NFC Championship in Washington that first season. Maye finished 2nd in MVP voting and went to the Super Bowl last year. Williams took 68 sacks as a rookie and had a league-low 58.1 completion percentage in 2025. People didn’t see him as in the same conversation as Maye.
That has changed.
The two quarterbacks went toe-to-toe last week at Soldier Field with Williams emerging victorious, throwing for over 300 yards and two touchdowns. He was in complete control all night. This led to the question re-emerging. Who is the best to come out of that 2024 class? Albert Breer polled 17 people inside the NFL. The results were shocking to many.
🔥 Subscribe to the Untold Chicago YouTube channel to hear Chicago legends tell stories you’ve never seen in headlines — real moments, real experiences, straight from the athletes themselves.
Caleb Williams comfortably beat Maye at the ballot box.
My quickie straw poll, conducted via text, elicited responses from six GMs, five offensive coordinators, four assistant GMs, a VP of player personnel and a pass-game coordinator.
The verdict: Williams 12, Maye 5…
…Those in my poll who took Williams cited his ceiling, creativity and early record of clutch play. The difficulty to prepare for him, in particular, broke a tie for some. “You call a perfect D,” said an assistant GM, “and still get beat, just like Josh [Allen] and [Patrick] Mahomes.” For most, it was close, though I had one OC text, “It’s Caleb; it wouldn’t really be close for me. More ability, keeps getting better, gives you a chance to win every game and he’s clutch.”
On the other side, those who took Maye pointed to his personality and sustainability. One GM texted he “would lean Drake, just falling back on the makeup and total package, not that Caleb is deficient, just maybe more volatility in his game long term.” An OC added, “Drake, but it’s close. Drake appears to me to be a little ahead of Caleb operating in the pocket and getting through progressions in the passing game, and still has athleticism to create. Caleb has great athleticism/speed and arm strength but is maybe a little less consistent.”
That coach then added, “Both are going to end up being really good.”
Act shocked that this has sparked a fierce debate.
Many can’t understand how these NFL decision-makers can possibly choose Williams over a guy who missed the MVP by five votes and missed a Lombardi trophy by one game. That doesn’t compute. It seems the general belief among the voters is that Williams is the type of quarterback for whom even a perfect defense doesn’t matter. His mobility and natural instincts for improvising make him a wild card you can’t predict. Maye is outstanding when playing on time and in rhythm, but last season proved that if you can take away that process, he starts to crumble. Seattle and Denver both proved it in the playoffs.
Then you look at Caleb Williams, who was smothered at times by some really good defenses last season, only to pull a big play out of nowhere to get his team back in it. He almost did it to Minnesota a few weeks ago before his hamstring gave out. New England got a taste of it last week. Every time you think you have the guy pinned out, he throws a knuckleball at you that nobody can hope to predict. That ability is what makes guys like Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes so terrifying. It is why the Bears drafted Williams in the first place.
This debate will only be settled one way.
One of these guys has to win a Super Bowl. That feels like the only decisive method to claim victory in such an argument. For over a decade, people debated whether John Elway or Dan Marino was better. Elway didn’t take the checkered flag until he finally got his ring in 1997. It was the same with Eli Manning and Philip Rivers until the former took down Tom Brady and the Patriots in Super Bowl XLII. Maye had his first shot at claiming a decisive advantage. He failed. Daniels did the same. Will this year be Williams’ turn?
It feels like the Bears have a good enough team to give him a shot. They’re 5-2 and winners of three of their last four. Williams is 3-0 in games he’s started and finished. If the defense doesn’t completely fall apart in the next two months, this offense is good enough to get this team back to the playoffs. From there, Williams must succeed where he failed last year by taking down the other titans of the NFC like Seattle, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. They are the gatekeepers he must get through to finally earn some respect.
