Ten Most Important Bears Players: Caleb Williams |
We have come to the final installment of our Most Important Players of 2024 for the Bears series, and this one shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone. After trading away Justin Fields to the Pittsburgh Steelers prior to the NFL draft, the Bears were once again looking for a franchise quarterback, as Fields never panned out the way he should.
Keep in mind, finding a franchise QB has been hard for this team as they are the only team in the NFL never to have a 4000-yard passer in a single season. Even when Jay Cutler was in Chicago and flinging the ball around the way he was, he couldn't even reach the 1000-yard mark, which is nearly impossible to believe when you look at how the game is played today. With their first pick in the 2024 NFL draft, the Bears selected Caleb Williams, QB from USC. Say what you want about his antics, ego, and/or attitude in college, but the bottom line is this kid can play and is the real dude. If anyone is going to toss for 4000 yards in Chicago, Williams is going to be that guy, and when you look at the offensive weapons that the Bears put around him this season, it will be hard for him not to throw for a lot of yards. A bit undersized for a quarterback at 6-1 and 215 pounds, Williams plays much bigger than his size indicates. His ability to escape the pocket and extend plays, paired with lethal accuracy, creates a nightmare scenario for defensive coordinators. In three seasons as a starting quarterback with Oklahoma and USC, Williams completed just shy of 70% of his passes while reaching 10,082 yards passing. He did that while throwing for 93 TDS and just 14 INT, one of the best TD/INT ratios in recent memory. Those passing numbers also came with some strong rushing numbers, as Williams has the ability to use his legs when he has to in order to make plays. He added 966 career rushing yards to his line and 27 TDS, which includes 11 rushing TDs last season and 10 in 2022 when he won the Heisman. Talk about an incredible run from a gifted quarterback. Williams has done it all since taking over as the starting Oklahoma quarterback in 2021 prior to his transfer and will now look to prove he is worth the No. 1 selection this season. One thing he must work on for that to happen is learning how to overcome adversity in the NFL, as he did a poor job handling that at times in college. Many will say that he had his worst season as a quarterback this past year, and when you look at his numbers, that may be accurate. Still, Williams completed 68.6% of his passes for 3633 yards, 30 TDs, and five INTs. That isn't quite the 42 TDs and five INTs he had the season before when he won the Heisman, but if that is a down year, the Bears are going to take that all day, every day. While there were some discussions about whether or not the Bears would keep Fields and not draft Williams, the consensus has always been that Williams is the best quarterback in this year's class and could be the best overall prospect. He will now have a chance to showcase that in one of the best football towns in America, which has become desperate for a player they can call their franchise quarterback. Although he is not at that level yet, as he still has to play an NFL snap, there is little to no doubt that Williams will be as good as advertised, thus giving the Bears the franchise quarterback they have been searching for years. Should the defense play at the level they did last season and Williams can come out and deliver, this will be a scary team that no one will want to face this season.
