With the No. 1 overall pick in next week's 2024 NFL Draft, the Chicago Bears are expected to select former USC quarterback Caleb Williams. Chicago traded Justin Fields to the Pittsburgh Steelers earlier this offseason, and will start over at the most important position in football. The Bears hope Williams is the leader who can get this franchise back to contending for championships.
During a recent appearance on "The Pivot Podcast," Williams was asked by Ryan Clark what he will be looking forward to in trading Los Angeles for another big sports town in Chicago.
"Love L.A., L.A. was great," Williams said. "Now that I want to play in one place for 20 years, and chase one guy, No. 12. I want a place that loves ball. That's all I've heard about Chicago so far, which is exciting for me ..."
Williams is considered to be the best quarterback prospect in this class, and maybe the best prospect overall regardless of position. Now, he wants to chase Tom Brady's legacy -- one defined by success and longevity. The greatest quarterback of all time, of course, played 20 seasons for the New England Patriots, and won six Super Bowls. In 2020, he signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and won a Super Bowl in his first season away from Bill Belichick. Brady retired for the second time at 45 years old and left the game with seven rings.
Before he can chase Brady's historic marks, Williams will have to navigate the learning curve that comes for almost every rookie quarterback. One young quarterback did just that last year, as C.J. Stroud of the Houston Texans completed 63.9% of his passes for 4,108 yards, 23 touchdowns and just five interceptions. His 273.9 passing yards per game led the league, and he became the youngest quarterback to win a playoff game in NFL history. He took Houston from worst to first in the division, something Chicago hopes Williams can do in 2024. Recently, former NFL general manager Rick Spielman said on the "With the First Pick" podcast that Williams has a 95% chance or higher of accomplishing something similar to what Stroud did in 2023.
The 2022 Heisman Trophy winner set USC single-season records for passing yards (4,537) and passing touchdowns (42), and then set the program record for yards per attempt in 2023 with 9.4. Williams also became the first FBS quarterback since Patrick Mahomes to record 30+ passing touchdowns and 10+ rushing touchdowns in back-to-back seasons.
With Williams' looming arrival in Chicago come great expectations. Perhaps he has greater expectations for himself than anyone else.
