Highlights
- The Chicago Bears have built a strong foundation for rookie QB Caleb Williams.
- General Manager Ryan Poles strategically rebuilt the Bears’ roster, creating an ideal ecosystem for a new franchise QB.
- Williams’ potential success could lead to the Bears making the playoffs and competing at a high level in 2024.
Usually, the No. 1 overall pick from an NFL Draft joins a terrible team. However, Caleb Williams looks to be sliding into a potential playoff contender. Chicago Bears’ tight end Cole Kmet told Kay Adams of “Up & Adams:”
We’ve got a lot of young, talented players, and I think for the first time in a long time — I don’t even know if it’s ever happened — we have an infrastructure in place for a high-end, talented rookie quarterback to come in.
Thanks to general manager Ryan Poles’ slow build, Williams finds himself surrounded by a fleet of offensive weapons like D.J. Moore, Keenan Allen, D’Andre Swift, and the ninth-overall pick in Rome Odunze. Which begs the question, how good can the Bears be in year one with their new franchise QB?
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When Poles took the Bears’ job in 2022, he inherited a derelict situation. The franchise dwelled in salary cap hell while still feeling the effects of the disastrous Mitch Trubisky trade-up of 2017. Rather than try to make “fetch” happen with Justin Fields, Poles tore the team down to its studs, endeavoring to build from a more solid foundation.
He caught a massive break when the Carolina Panthers traded a king’s ransom and took Bryce Young rather than C.J. Stroud. Nevertheless, he took that heist of draft picks along with years of hard-earned financial flexibility to build a perfect ecosystem to drop a rookie QB into.
Moore, Allen, Odunze, Swift, and even DE Montez Sweat form a rock-solid infrastructure on which Williams can thrive. Moore also spoke glowingly on the radio show about the possibilities and expectations:
Just making the playoffs, just showing the growth that we had over the past year. Making the playoffs, (earning) 10 wins. Having 1,000 yards (receiving) could come second. We’ve got people on the field that you can’t just double team or somebody else is going to be open, making it a game for themselves, like the Thursday night game I had. … Any one of us could go off and have a game like that if you put man to man on us.
Kmet echoed Moore’s sentiments about what’s possible with such a great roster combined with a highly prized quarterback:
Obviously, Caleb is highly touted. He’s been that way for a long time now. He gets to go in a situation with a lot of veteran, quality, good players and also a really good defense.
Brock Purdy and Ben Roethlisberger were the last rookie QBs to enter such a perfect position. Of course, neither was rated in the same stratosphere as Williams coming out of the draft. As Bears fans know all too well, there’s always the danger of hoping for too much too soon.
If Williams joins the long list of Bears QBs who disappointed, Chicago fans might need to take a sabbatical from football. At least they’ve given themselves the best chance for happiness in decades.
Source: Kay Adams of “Up & Adams:”
All statistics courtesy of Pro Football Reference unless stated otherwise.
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