Caleb Williams (via Getty Images)
It seems as though everyone and their mother knows who USC quarterback Caleb Williams is, and the Chicago Bears are content with taking him first overall in the 2024 NFL Draft, which is scheduled to be held in Detroit later this month.

There are signs that Williams may be returning a nostalgic feeling for himself. According to speculation and rumors, the quarterback may be set to wear his old high school jersey number in Chicago.

None of the rumors have been confirmed yet, but the evidence may be all we need. On NFL shop.com, fans can use a jersey customization tab to create their jersey, with some exceptions to the rule. Cusswords and slurs are blocked from usage.

A pop-up message will read, “We are unable to customize this item with the text you have entered. Please try a different entry. The site will also block any attempts to create a Caleb Williams number 18 jersey.

Caleb Williams Will Seemingly Wear Number 18 With The Bears

One may ask about the relationship between the blocked jersey and the speculation. It can be pointed out that the same thing happened before the 2021 NFL Draft, when fans were trying to create a customized number 16 Trevor Lawrence jersey.

Just to add to the speculation, wide receiver Keenan Allen was recently traded to the Bears this off-season after spending the last 11 seasons with the Chargers. The star receiver’s number throughout his entire NFL career? It’s 13, which is also the number that Williams wore during his college days at USC. With Allen having seniority over Williams, it is possible that the rookie quarterback was forced to audible to number 18.

And just in case there isn’t enough evidence to convince us, Chicago recently brought in receiver Dante Pettis, who wore the number 18 when he played with the team back in 2022. Even though 18 is technically available, the receiver will still wear the number 81 on his back.

Again, none of this has been confirmed by NFL sources as Williams Will not officially join the league until April 25th, but with all the evidence added up, there is a pretty convincing case that the QB will wear his high school number to begin his career.