What’s Caleb Williams’ deal? Why does the former USC Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback have to be like this? As if the man hasn’t garnered enough attention with his play on the field, the potential No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft is stirring the pot.
Williams is either implying he doesn’t want to be drafted by the Chicago Bears, or endorsing Justin Fields as their franchise QB based on this liked tweet from a dude who literally has 85 followers on X:
I was being more facetious than anything else with the headline of this piece, but to me, it kind of does drop Williams’ stock a little bit. Look, I get that he has amazing arm talent in terms of his ability to throw off-platform with just about any fathomable arm angle. He’s uniquely adept at making plays off-schedule, too. I’m not sure Williams runs better than a sub 4.6-second 40-yard dash (reportedly 4.59 — seems generous), yet he’s plenty fast enough for his college skill set to translate to the NFL.
Patrick Mahomes only ran a 4.8 coming out of Texas Tech; Bills superstar Josh Allen is a 4.75 guy. Williams is twitchier than both of them.
BUT. The whole crying hard in the stands after a loss — I initially defended him for that — the profane painting of his nails, the proclivity to play hero ball too often, a general regression in 2023, and now this deliberate social media gesture to create an online firestorm? I don’t know. I’m starting to have second thoughts.
Am I trying to manifest my +6600 future bet on LSU Heisman winner Jayden Daniels to be the No. 1 overall pick? Maybe a little bit. In all seriousness, given how decent Fields has played toward the end of the season — particularly given the frequent schematic ineptitude of Bears offensive coordinator Luke Getsy — I’m starting to think that this “Spenny” guy might be on to something. Perhaps you do keep Fields in the Windy City.
Moving Off Justin Fields
I can’t imagine there are many franchise-caliber passers out there who throw with less and worse anticipation than Justin Fields does. He has the athleticism to get away with it more often than not, and again, the scheme around him and pass protection issues are glaring. Makes it a difficult judgment call. Above all else, getting rid of Fields and selling somewhat high on him is advisable for the Bears. They can “reset the clock” on the cheap rookie contract rather than paying Fields a boatload of money.
If it were me, I’d move off Fields. I wouldn’t even hesitate. Where I am starting to hesitate more than I ever have before is with Caleb Williams being a shoo-in as the first pick off the board. Also, North Carolina’s Drake Maye has obvious, tantalizing physical tools in his own right, but I’m not terribly sold on him either.
From the admittedly little I’ve seen of him compared to Williams and Daniels, he has inconsistent footwork, decision-making and simply played a lesser level of competition than the aforementioned QBs. The ceiling Williams brings as a playmaker with his raw throwing talent, and the upward trajectory Daniels is on, mixed with his legit game-breaking speed as a ball-carrier, places Maye firmly at QB3 for me right now.
Patriots fans grieving their 26-23 win over the Broncos on Christmas Eve are taking solace in the fact that Daniels might fall to them in the draft if the groupthink consensus of a Williams-Maye QB1 and QB2 plays out as expected.
What I feel for sure about the Bears is that they should absolutely move to a new offensive coordinator if Matt Eberflus remains the head coach, and trade Fields. In PFF’s Mock Draft Simulator, I sent Fields to the Atlanta Falcons for the 42nd overall pick. Not bad.
I’d rather have Williams, Daniels and even Maye over Fields. There’s more than enough sample size on the latter to make that judgment call, in my opinion. It’s a no-brainer financially. This is not to throw any shade at Fields. I still think he can be a successful QB. Love his intangibles. Crazy good runner of the ball. Just don’t think it’s a good long-term fit in Chicago for either party.
Plus, using the franchise tag as a placeholder for a prospective new contract for star cornerback Jaylon Johnson — the only in-house free agent Chicago must retain — per OverTheCap.com, trading Fields and restructuring DJ Moore, Eddie Jackson, Tremaine Edmunds, and Cole Kmet would create almost $82 million in 2024 salary cap space.
Running with the original fan theory, though, let’s say the Bears stay at No. 1 and draft Ohio State wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. That’d be quite a 1-2 punch with Moore at wide receiver. Then, Chicago is still projected as of now to have the eighth pick, which could be used on Daniels. They’d already have a ton of needs filled in free agency in advance of the draft with all the cash they have on hand as well. Sounds like a virtual can’t-lose scenario.
Move over, Ryan Pace. Give me a crack at that GM job. You’re sitting on a gold mine. Whether it’s Caleb Williams or another very promising first-round QB in this loaded 2024 draft class, don’t blow it!
