Fields trade gave Williams a ‘wow’ moment

Caleb Williams is likely to hear his name called first at the start of the NFL Draft Thursday night. When the NFL convenes its annual selection meeting in Detroit, the Chicago Bears have the first pick, and they are almost assuredly going to make the USC quarterback the No. 1 pick in the 2024 Draft.

While there is pressure on any player who is selected with the top pick, the pressure will ramp up for Williams as the season approaches. The Bears may be the oldest team in the NFL, but their history at the quarterback position has been ridiculously unproductive. Several of the team’s passing records are still held by Sid Luckman, and his career spanned 12 years from from 1939 through 1950.

The Bears are hoping that Williams can adapt to the system under head coach Matt Eberflus quickly and trigger the offense that has rarely been up to the standards of the top teams in the NFL.

While Williams knew his name was being bandied about as the first choice for months, he didn’t begin to take it seriously until the Bears traded former quarterback Justin Fields to the Pittsburgh Steelers earlier in the offseason. That move made it clear that the Bears would be using the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft to select a quarterback.

Williams knows there are several other excellent quarterbacks in this draft, including Jayden Daniels of LSU, Drake Maye of North Carolina, J.J. McCarthy of Michigan, Michael Penix of Washington and Bo Nix of Oregon. None of those signal callers have overtaken Williams at any point in the draft season.

Williams attitude became heightened after Bears traded Justin Fields

Williams explained how he felt when he heard about the Fields trade. “In that moment it was kind of like ‘wow’ because I didn’t do my top 30 visit yet. They didn’t have my medical yet. They have it all now and I had a good time with my top 30, but it was interesting right there in that moment because it was all so unexpected in that instance.”

Williams comes to the Bears after a college career with the Trojans that was brilliant in 2022 but not quite as dynamic last year.

Williams won the Heisman Trophy following the 2022 season as he completed 333 of 500 passes for 4,437 yard with an amazing 42 to 5 touchdown to interception ratio. His numbers were not quite as good in 2023 as he completed 266 of 388 passes for 3,633 yards with 30 touchdowns and 5 interceptions. He also combined for 21 rushing touchdowns in the last two seasons.

Field had served as quarterback for the Bears in each of the past three seasons, and he regularly displayed explosive athleticism and big-play ability with his legs. However, he did not display consistency with sh0rt- and medium-range passing or his decision making. As a result, the Bears traded the No. 11 pick in the 2021 draft to the Steelers.