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The Chicago Bears are resting their hopes and dreams on rookie quarterback Caleb Williams after trading Justin Fields to the Pittsburgh Steelers this offseason and selecting Williams with the top overall pick during the first round of Thursday’s NFL draft.
The former Oklahoma and USC man outlined his goals for reporters on Friday, but the true end game is simple—win titles:
“To be the greatest or to be able to sit at the table. You put dreams and goals in front of you that you aren’t able to reach within a year or two, and you try to go get ’em. You have to consistently not get tired with consistency. Being able to be the same guy, being able to go in there and lead the guys and hold them accountable, and they hold me accountable to go get it. Having those team goals. The only way you can reach them.”My last goal is immortality. The only way to reach that is winning championships. That’s big for me and something that is the reason I play the game. I’m excited.”
Those are the long-term goals, but in the short term, the Bears have tried to make life as easy as possible for Williams, surrounding him with an impressive array of playmakers that includes wideouts DJ Moore, Keenan Allen and rookie Rome Odunze, tight end Cole Kmet and running back D’Andre Swift.
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New Bears QB Caleb Williams asked about why he doesn’t “duck” the pressure when he has high expectations for himself and the team: “There’s no reason to duck. I’m here. Rome’s here. Keenan Allen. Top-5 defense. … We’re here. I’m excited, I know everybody’s excited.”
Williams told reporters on Friday that Chicago’s leadership was honest with him and admitted in the past that the organization didn’t do the best job of putting “people in the right position” but that “the plan is to change that around.”
“As y’all have seen, the new stadium. As y’all have seen, the coaches that they have brought here, the executive staffs. Things like that,” he continued. “Bringing people like that from winning cultures and winning places that want to win, and as a holistic family of the Bears but also stadium, team, coaches, executive staff. Everybody wanting to win and change the culture.”
The Bears appear to have learned the right lessons from the short-lived Fields era. During his rookie season in 2021, Fields’ top weapons were the solid but unspectacular Darnell Mooney, the maddeningly inconsistent Allen Robinson, Kmet in just his second season and a between-the-tackles grinder David Montgomery.
Not exactly the second coming of the Greatest Show on Turf, in other words.
Fields also routinely played behind porous offensive lines and toiled in an offensive scheme that didn’t suit his playing style until the coaching staff adjusted its philosophy about halfway through the 2022 season in an effort to better utilize his strengths.
Fields had his own issues, namely around accuracy and holding onto the ball for too long. There was a reason the Bears ultimately pivoted to Williams. But the team didn’t put him in a great position, something it clearly wanted to change for the top overall pick.
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