The Chicago Bears made some serious waves this off-season, culminating in the selection of USC blue chip quarterback prospect Caleb Williams with their overall no. 1 pick in last month’s NFL draft. Williams, all alone, is viewed by many as a potential franchise-altering field presence.
In addition to Williams, the Bears drafted Rome Odunze with their second first-round pick (no. 9). The team also added wide receiver Keenan Allen via trade with the Los Angeles Chargers as well as running back D’Andre Swift and tight end Gerald Everett via free agency. And they’ll be playing under the guidance of new offensive coordinator Shane Waldron, who will preside over a completely rebuilt offensive coaching staff.
All of this tells some experts that this Bears front office is aiming for big things right now and not at all engaged in a calculated rebuild with only future success in mind.
In an article talking about teams who have revealed their identity with 2024 NFL draft decisions, Eric Galko of MSN.com declared Chicago to be clearly in “win-now” mode.
Per Galko:
“The Bears entered the 2024 NFL Draft process with an obvious choice at first overall in Caleb Williams, their new franchise quarterback, and many questions beyond that. And even before draft weekend, it was fairly clear what their plan was: Build this team to win ASAP with Williams at the helm.
The team traded their fourth round pick for Keenan Allen and their fifth round pick for Ryan Bates, to further bolster the offense. Then they opted not trade down from the ninth overall pick (to acquire more draft capital) and instead picked Williams’s favorite receiver in the draft in Rome Odunze.
Add in that they added OL depth in Kiran Amedijie and the first punter off the board in Tory Taylor, and they’ve clearly done everything they could to give Caleb Williams and their offense every chance to be a top-half of the league unit in his rookie season.”
The assessment of the Bears being improved over last season is universal. With a rebuilt offense– touting a young quarterback already drawing comparison to legends such as Aaron Rodgers and Patrick Mahomes– around a defense that finished the season near the top of the league, there’s zero doubt that the Chicago team hitting the field this season should be better than the one fielded last season. The question is how much better will they be. And, as a side note, how much better will the entire NFC North division be.
Hopes Tempered with Realities
Oddsmakers have already tempered Bears optimism with a disappointing prediction of just 8.5 wins this coming season– just a slight improvement over their 7-10 finish last season.
Analysts, such as Joy Taylor of Speak on Fox Sports One, have also pointed out the Bears’ tough road in what should be a very competitive division.
“So which team in the NFC [North] is going to fall off so much that it’s going to provide an opportunity for Caleb Williams to come in and win four more games as a rookie in a very tough division?” Taylor asked rhetorically last month.
“Did all of these other teams walk off the face of the planet? Do they exist?”
“What we think of this division is not real, it is a very tough division.”
Still, improvement is improvement and the Bears are definitely headed in the right direction as a team and as a franchise.
Per Vinnie Iyer of MSN.com:
“The Bears were a below-average offense with Justin Fields operating a run-heavy attack. Should Williams live up to the immediate rookie hype replacing him at quarterback, they have top-10 overall upside with their four skill-player newcomers to help DJ Moore and Cole Kmet. Waldron got creative with personnel usage in Seattle and has the right mix of players to deliver a more balanced and explosive attack.”
Nobody said domination (or even winning) would be easy. But the Bears have put themselves in the right condition to turn everything around.
