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While the Chicago Bears are still deciding what to do at quarterback, sources close to the organization reportedly believe they will likely select USC quarterback Caleb Williams with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft.
During an appearance Saturday on SportsCenter, ESPN NFL insider Jeremy Fowler reported that the Bears are in the “early stages” of draft evaluation. He also noted that incumbent starting quarterback Justin Fields has made the No. 1 overall pick decision “very difficult” due to his strong play down the stretch.
I’m told the Bears are in the early stages of the draft evaluation of all the top players, regardless of position, including the top quarterbacks. They’ll do character studies, deep film works spanning over years, including on that player there Caleb Williams, who most around the league believe feel is the No. 1 talent at the quarterback position. If the Bears are going to go that route, it would likely be Williams. But they still have Justin Fields and I’m told that he’s made the decision very difficult by the way he’s played, particularly down the stretch. So, they have options. They’re not down the road as far as what decision they’ve made. I have talked to some people in and around the program who believe they will eventually land on a Caleb Williams or a quarterback at No. 1, but still has to be sorted out.
If the Bears use the top selection on a quarterback such as Williams, North Carolina’s Drake Maye or LSU’s Jayden Daniels, it would likely spell the end of Fields’ tenure in Chicago and result in him getting traded elsewhere.
Chicago used the No. 11 overall pick in the 2021 NFL draft on Fields in hopes that he could be the type of franchise quarterback it hasn’t had in decades, and while he has shown flashes of brilliance, he still has plenty of growing to do as a passer.
Compared to his rookie season, Fields made significant strides in 2022 when he threw for 2,242 yards, 17 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, while also rushing for 1,143 yards and eight scores.
The Bears had the opportunity to use the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft on a quarterback such as Alabama’s Bryce Young, Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud or Florida’s Anthony Richardson, but they traded it to the Carolina Panthers instead.
Carolina used the pick on Young, while Chicago acquired a bounty of draft picks in the trade, as well as wide receiver D.J. Moore, who had a career year with the Bears in 2023, racking up 96 receptions for 1,364 yards and eight touchdowns.
An injury cost Fields four games this season, but he showed improvement, setting career bests in completion percentage (61.4 percent) and passing yardage (2,562). He also threw 16 touchdowns and a career-low nine picks, while rushing for 657 yards and four touchdowns.
Perhaps most importantly, the Bears won four of his final six starts and entered the offseason on a high note after starting the season 0-4.
One of the picks Chicago acquired in last year’s trade with the Panthers was their 2024 first-round selection, which turned out to be No. 1 overall.
The Bears could repeat what they did last year and trade the pick for several other picks and potentially players, but keeping the pick and using it may be best for the franchise if the front office believes a generational talent is available at quarterback.
Williams could be precisely that, as he is coming off two spectacular seasons at USC and is viewed by many as a future NFL star.
In 2022, Williams won the Heisman Trophy when he threw for 4,537 yards, 42 touchdowns and five interceptions, and also rushed for 10 touchdowns. He was excellent again in 2023, passing for 3,633 yards, 30 touchdowns and five picks, while rushing for 11 scores.
Of course, there is no guarantee that drafting a quarterback would be a successful venture, as Patrick Finley of the Chicago Sun-Times reported that first-round quarterbacks have a combined 1,047-1,057-7 record since 2011.
Trading Fields is a move that could come back to haunt the Bears provided he blossoms into a star elsewhere, but franchise quarterbacks don’t come along often, and they have to strike if they believe Williams, Maye or Daniels can lead them to championships in the future.
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