The hopes are as high as the wind in Chicago for Caleb Williams. It is a done deal. Williams is the Chicago Bears’ new quarterback.
To the surprise of no one, the Bears selected Williams No. 1 overall in the 2024 NFL draft. The Williams and Chicago connection was forecasted by the experts for weeks, but the organization finally made it official Thursday night in Detroit. Williams is the first quarterback drafted by the tandem of general manager Ryan Poles and coach Matt Eberflus, who were hired by the Bears in 2022.
Williams is the sixth USC alum to be selected No. 1 overall in the NFL draft. The 6-1, 215-pound signal caller was the consensus top quarterback prospect in this year’s draft.
Williams transferred to USC from the University of Oklahoma in 2022, with his head coach Lincoln Riley, and proceeded to have two stellar years in ‘The City of Angels’, Los Angeles.
In 2022, Williams passed for 4,537 yards and led the nation with 42 touchdowns with just five picks. He won the Heisman Trophy as well as AP Player of the Year and the Maxwell Award.
Embed from Getty ImagesLast season, Williams’ production dipped ever so slightly, throwing for 3,633 yards, 30 touchdowns and five interceptions.
The quarterback owns a laundry list of USC single-season records, including total yards (4,919 yards), most total touchdowns (52), passing yards (4,537) and touchdown passes (42).
Williams is the sixth quarterback in the past seven year to be selected No. 1 overall in the NFL draft.
The Bears acquired the 2024 No. 1 overall pick as part of a 2023 massive trade with the Carolina Panthers, who rose all the way to the top of the order in last year’s draft to take quarterback Bryce Young out of the University of Alabama. In March, the Bears traded former starting quarterback Justin Fields to the Pittsburgh Steelers for a sixth-round pick, which cleared the decks for Williams in Chicago.
The Bears were in the house to watch Williams participate at USC’s pro day, and the quarterback took a pre-draft visit to Halas Hall in Chicago earlier this month.
Subpar play at the quarterback position has been a major problem for the ‘Monsters of the Midway’. The Bears are a member of a club you do not want to be in. They are the only NFL team in history that has never had a quarterback throw for 4,000 yards in a single season.
The Bears have had just five Pro Bowl quarterbacks since 1951. Johnny Lujack (1951-52) and Ed Brown (1955-56) are the only Bears quarterbacks with multiple Pro Bowl appearances.
General manager Poles, coach Eberflus and the rest of Bears front office are hopeful Williams can change the quarterback fortune in Chicago.
