The 2024 NFL season is still a few months out, but there’s plenty of offseason content to look forward to for the famished fanbase. Among those is the annual edition of HBO’s Hard Knocks, for which the participating team was revealed on Wednesday.
This fall, it will be the Chicago Bears taking center stage as the focus of the 2024 season of Hard Knocks, giving fans a behind-the-scenes look at one of the most intriguing rosters in the league as they look to start a new chapter with rookie quarterback Caleb Williams.
Hard Knocks will give fans an exclusive look into the Bears’ training camp and grant access to some unique footage as the team goes through its preparations for the regular season, including inside looks at roster cuts, team meetings, practices and more.
There will be plenty to look out for, too.
Chicago’s revamped offense features a plethora of new faces, as well as some returning ones. D.J. Moore and Cole Kmet figure to play prominent roles as weapons for Williams in his rookie campaign, and he’ll also have newcomers such as rookie wideout Rome Odunze and veteran receiver Keenan Allen to throw to as well.
Only three teams this year were not given the option to reject the opportunity to appear on the show. In addition to the Bears, the Denver Broncos and New Orleans Saints also met the league’s requirements, which include: Not having a first-year head coach, not making the playoffs in each of the past two seasons and not having featured on Hard Knocks in the past decade.
The 2024 edition of the popular series has not been given an official release date just yet, though it’s set to be available for streaming on Max in the near future.
Many were ready to pencil in the Atlanta Falcons as the NFC South winners for their 2024 NFL playoff predictions. That might have changed after the Falcons made their stunning selection of Michael Penix Jr. in the 2024 NFL draft.
The signal-caller out of Washington should help the Falcons in the future, but he didnât make them better in the present, allowing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, New Orleans Saints and Carolina Panthers to close the gap on the talented Falcons, who added immediate impact players with their first-round selections.
Kirk Cousins, who was signed in free agency to a four-year, $180 million deal, was left scratching his head at the Falconsâ first-round pick. But a few other teams in the NFC also made questionable moves during last weekâs three-day draft as well.
Letâs examine how each NFC team did in the 2024 draft by ranking them from 16 to 1. Donât expect a surprise for No. 16 âŚ
16. Atlanta Falcons
The Falcons used the No. 8 pick on Penix, whoâs ready to start now after six years of college experience, including guiding Washington to the national title game. Instead of Penix following in the paths of Russell Wilson and Brock Purdy starting as rookies, he will have to wait his turn for a year or two, maybe three. And letâs not forget that Cousinsâs contract includes guarantees of $90 million in the first two years with a $10 million option in Year 3.
The Falcons didnât want to wait on a quarterback-succession plan, opting for what the Kansas City Chiefs and the Green Bay Packers did with Patrick Mahomes and Jordan Love despite not having a deep roster as those teams did. The Falcons, who havenât made the postseason since 2017, dismissed the present for the future and passed on adding an immediate contributor with their first-round pick. Now the pressure is on second-round defensive tackle Ruke Orhorhoro and third-round edge rusher Bralen Trice to produce right away.
15. Seattle Seahawks
The Seahawks deserve credit for adding defensive tackle Byron Murphy II, even though they have committed plenty of money to Leonard Williams and DreâMont Jones. Murphy fits the scheme of new coach Mike Macdonald, but now the Seahawks have a dilemma with a log jam at the position. Murphy will likely receive starterâs snaps because he excels at stopping the run, a weakness of the Seahawks the past few seasons.
Without a second-round pick, the rest of the Seahawksâ draft class seems a bit underwhelming. But the Seahawks have plenty of talent throughout the roster. Perhaps all they need for a bounce-back season is for Macdonald to get the star-studded defense on the same page, which became easier with the selection of Murphy.
14. Carolina Panthers
The Panthers might have prioritized need more than taking the best player available when it came to adding a wide receiver. They found their physical outside receiver, selecting 6'3," 227-pound Xavier Legette with the last pick in the first round. Carolina took Legette over Ladd McConkey, Keon Coleman and Adonai Mitchell. Time will tell if the Panthers selected the right receiver for Bryce Young and new coach Dave Canales.
Taking the best running back prospect in Jonathon Brooks should give Carolina a balanced attack after a dismal ground game in 2023. Overall, the Panthers added help for Young and found a way to gain a first-round pick.
13. Dallas Cowboys
Judging from the social media criticism, the Cowboysâ draft class likely received a low grade from most football pundits. But it wasnât as bad as many made it seem because they prioritized the offensive line. Sure, the Cowboys havenât made it to a conference title game this millennium, but they became perennial playoff contenders because they rarely neglected the trenches, drafting Zack Martin and Tyler Smith. They quickly found their Tyron Smith replacement with the first-round selection of Tyler Guyton, a left tackle with plenty of upside.
Dallas also continued loading up on edge rushers, adding Marshawn Kneeland in the second round to fill the void of Dorance Armstrong, who left in free agency to join the Washington Commanders. Itâs never a bad draft strategy to add offensive and defensive linemen. But the Cowboys failed to address their needs at running back and inside linebacker. They also could have used another receiver to go with CeeDee Lamb and Brandin Cooks.
12. New York Giants
Perhaps the Giants should be ranked lower than 12th on this list, but they landed standout wideout Malik Nabers with their No. 6 pick. Nabers has the makings of the next Odell Beckham Jr. or JaâMarr Chase. Nabersâs explosiveness will expand the playbook for coach Brian Daboll, making him a matchup nightmare for opposing defenses.
Daniel Jones gets another shot to prove himself with a dangerous downfield threat in Nabersâunless youâre buying the hype of Drew Lock possibly taking Jonesâs job this summer. But the Giants likely know by now that Jones wonât ever reach elite QB status in the NFL. They had an opportunity to move up from No. 6 to third to select Drake Maye, but couldnât come to a trade agreement with the New England Patriots.
11. San Francisco 49ers
The 49ers passed on wide receivers who had more hype from the draft experts to select Ricky Pearsall with the 31st pick. San Francisco deserves the benefit of the doubt because Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk werenât high-profile prospects when the team selected them. The 49ers might be forced to decide between Samuel and Aiyuk because they have drafted so well in recent years and donât have enough cap space to keep all of their star players.
San Francisco gave itself flexibility with the Samuel-Aiyuk dilemma by adding Pearsall, who should be ready to slide in as a starter if Samuel or Aiyuk leave during the 2025 offseason. The best teams create options and plan ahead.
10. Minnesota Vikings
If J.J. McCarthy was the target all along, the Vikings played this well by only trading up one spot to get him at No. 10 instead of moving into the top five to select the Michigan quarterback. But Minnesota took a risk by banking on the fifth quarterback taken in the draft. As history has shown, itâs rare when five quarterbacks from one draft class develop into legitimate franchise signal-callers.
The Vikings tried to trade three first-round picks to the Patriots for the right to draft Maye, who likely has the best skill set among all of the QB prospects. McCarthy's ceiling might not be as high as the others, but he proved at Michigan he can run an efficient offense and will now get to throw to Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison and T.J. Hockenson. By not getting desperate for a quarterback, the Vikings also added Dallas Turner at No. 17 to pair with free-agent signing Jonathan Greenard.
9. Green Bay Packers
The Packers failed to add a top offensive tackle in last yearâs draft, but they didnât make that same mistake again, one they couldnât afford because of the departure of David Bakhtiari. Jordan Morgan, the 25th pick, could compete for the left tackle job against Rasheed Walker, who filled in admirably for the injured Bakhtiari in 2023.
Morgan also has the flexibility to play guard, which could explain why the Packers chose him over Guyton, the Cowboysâ first-round pick. In the second round, the Packers took the first off-ball linebacker with Edgerrin Cooper. Perhaps the Texas A&M product could flourish as an immediate starter. Green Bay has invested plenty of draft picks in recent years on defensive players, but hasnât received many positive returns.
8. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
With Canales now calling the plays for Young, the Buccaneers needed to find another way to make life easier for Baker Mayfield, who received a lucrative contract extension after a career year with Canales as the offensive play-caller in Tampa Bay. They did that by drafting center Graham Barton with the No. 26 pick. On paper, the Bucsâ offensive line has come a long way since 2022, when the unit failed to protect Tom Brady during his final season.
With a stout offensive line, Mayfield is well positioned to prove his 2023 season was no fluke. Coach Todd Bowlesâs defense got better with second-round selection Chris Braswell, who will join last yearâs standout rookie edge rusher Yaya Diaby.
7. New Orleans Saints
The Saints had a sensational start to the draft, selecting offensive tackle Taliese Fuaga and cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry in the first and second rounds, respectively. New Orleans had concerns at tackle with Ryan Ramczykâs injury issues and Trevor Penningâs struggles on the field. Now they have less problems with the arrival of Fuaga, arguably the best run blocker in the draft.
Fuaga probably will start at right tackle, but he would fix more problems if heâs able to play left tackle. The Penning experience hasnât worked out and it might be better for New Orleans to move him as a backup tackle. As for McKinstry, it wonât be easy for him to earn a starting job, but he adds youth to a veteran-filled defense. The Saints need more draft picks to become cornerstone pieces to finally gain cap-space flexibility.
6. Arizona Cardinals
The Cardinals didnât overthink it and took Marvin Harrison Jr., possibly the best prospect in the draft. Yes, the Cardinals have many needs and would have benefited from the extra picks had they traded out of the No. 4 spot. But you donât pass on a wide receiver prospect as good as Harrison, who has drawn comparisons to Larry Fitzgerald Jr. and A.J. Green.
Kyler Murray will benefit from Harrisonâs presence, as will offensive coordinator Drew Petzing, who had impressive game plans in 2023 despite a poor roster. After taking the dominant Harrison, the Cardinals added Darius Robinson, who could be Arizona's best pass rusher this upcoming season. Heâll join a defensive unit lacking talent outside of safety Budda Baker.
5. Los Angeles Rams
The Rams filled defensive needs with two standout prospects. First, they took edge rusher Jared Verse to pair him with Byron Young, last yearâs rookie standout. They followed that by moving up from No. 52 to 39 to select defensive tackle Braden Fiske, who impressed many at the Senior Bowl.
Fiske will have the pressure of filling the massive void left by the retirement of Aaron Donald, but he wonât have to do it alone because the Rams planned ahead. Last year, they drafted Young and defensive tackle Kobie Turner, who became a Defensive Rookie of the Year candidate. L.A. lost a legend in Donald, but now have four intriguing players on the defensive line. Also, the Rams were wise to select running back Blake Corum in the third round. He has a similar skill set to last yearâs breakout star Kyren Williams. They should form a dominant duo, and Corum could help as a starter in case Williams deals with injuries again.
4. Philadelphia Eagles
The Eagles neglected the secondary last offseason and it cost them during their end-of-season collapse. The secondary should be much improved after Philadelphia added cornerback Quinyon Mitchell and defensive back Cooper DeJean. Mitchell could soon take over as the teamâs No. 1 outside cornerback because of his elite traits and athleticism. DeJean will probably flourish in Vic Fangioâs scheme because he can play cornerback and safety.
And it wouldnât be a Howie Roseman draft without him taking at least one edge rusher. Third-round pick Jalyx Hunt has plenty of upside and could quickly find a rotational role behind Josh Sweat and Bryce Huff.
3. Detroit Lions
Similar to the Eagles, the Lions addressed their secondary needs with a pair of first-round defensive backs. Detroit gets the nod over Philadelphia because Terrion Arnold might be one of the safest picks in the draft. Heâs a polished technician with a similar skill set to Seattleâs Devon Witherspoon. Arnold going at No. 24 could end up being the steal of the draft.
The Lions didnât settle at cornerback and took Ennis Rakestraw Jr. in the second round. The Lions swung and missed on cornerback Cameron Sutton, who was released recently after being a top free-agent addition in 2023. Arnold should be a Day 1 starter, joining last yearâs rookie sensation Brian Branch and veteran newcomer Carlton Davis III. It likely wonât take Rakestraw long to crack the cornerback rotation in Detroit.
2. Washington Commanders
Jayden Daniels is set up for long-term success after all of the savvy moves Washington has made in its first offseason with a new owner, GM and head coach.
Daniels received a talented tight end in Ben Sinnott, a second-round pick. Daniels also might have the luxury of playing with a much-improved defense. The Commandersâ first pick in the second round was defensive tackle JerâZhan âJohnnyâ Newton, who was viewed by many as a first-round prospect. The Commandersâ second second-round pick was cornerback Mike Sainristil. Coach Dan Quinn now has enough talent to turn the Washington defense from one of the worst to a respectable unit in 2024.
1. Chicago Bears
The Bears could have two Offensive Rookie of the Year candidates after using their two top-10 picks on Caleb Williams and Rome Odunze. On paper, GM Ryan Poles executed one of the best trades in recent years after flipping last yearâs No. 1 pick to the Panthers for wide receiver DJ Moore and many draft picks, including two that turned into offensive tackle Darnell Wright and Williams.
But this trade wonât be remembered positively for years to come without Williams turning into an elite quarterback. The pressure is on the USC product, but the Bears have built an ideal surrounding for the top pick, with the trade for Keenan Allen and selection of Odunze, the savvy route router who can create plays on the outside and in the slot. Start the Bearsâ hype train because they might be fun to watch with their two top-10 picks.
It was Oct. 14 in South Bend, Ind., and Chicago Bears GM Ryan Poles was working the sideline as he normally would at a college game in the fallâlooking, with a scoutâs eye, for any little window he could find into the prospects heâd be evaluating in the winter and spring.
The USC offense was wrapping up warmups. The punt team was coming on. The Trojansâ reigning Heisman-winning quarterback, Caleb Williams, had looked over to the Irish sideline earlier, and spotted Notre Dame icon, and NFL legend, Joe Montana. Sensing the timing was right, he put his head down and went.
Poles watched intently.
Williams was born in November 2001, nearly seven years after Montana played his last game. Some of his contemporaries wouldnât even know who Montana was, let alone recognize him in street clothes. But here was Williams, preparing for his final shot at Notre Dame as USC quarterback, compelled to pay homage to one of the gameâs greats.
âThey went to do some special teams things, he took his helmet off, ran over and shook his hand,â Poles said Thursday. âFor a young kid to go up to a quarterback like that, Hall of Famer, and not as an, Iâm in the same circle as you, but I look up to you, and, yet, there wasnât this college fear of talking to an adult. He did it with confidence and swagger, but a ton of respect and humility at the same timeâI couldnât get that out of my mind.â
At the time, there was no way for Poles to know heâd have a prayer of landing Williams in the draft.
Sure, he had two first-round picks, and with the Bearsâ record at 1â4 and the Carolina Panthersâ 0â5, there was a good chance both would be in the top 10. Still, he and his coach, Matt Eberflus, were headlong in the process of evaluating Justin Fields, coming off one of his best games as a pro, a four-touchdown effort in a Thursday Night Football win over the Washington Commanders, and it was pretty well-established by then that only one NFL team would have a shot at USCâs quarterback. There was also a lot of season left to be played.
So Poles filed the memory away, an early step heâd take in executing the Bearsâ aggressive, forward-thinking plan to both give Fields a shot and be prepared for whatever opportunity Chicagoâs draft position afforded him at the position.
This week, weâre going to take you, soup to nuts, through that plan, and how it got Poles and Eberflus to the point where they were ready to trade Fields and tie their job security to a guy whoâs been tagged a generational talent at the position since he was a teenager. And what youâll see is that just as that sort of big-picture view of the quarterback was important, so too were all the little details along the way.
Even if it was just that short interaction before the worst game of Williamsâs college career.
Weâre into a lull in the NFL offseason, with OTAs still a couple of weeks away, and the draft in the rearview mirror. But the league doesnât really ever sleep, so weâve got plenty to cover, and in this weekâs Takeaways, thatâll bring you âŚ
⢠A look at the Miami Dolphinsâ marriage with Odell Beckham Jr., and why Beckham came so cheap. ⢠Why Olu Fashanu was the play for the New York Jets, and which skill-position player they saw on his level. ⢠The Buffalo Billsâ strategy in moving around before landing Keon Coleman.
⌠And a whole lot more.
But weâre starting this week with a look back at the top of the draft, and how the Bears got comfortable with the guy weâve all assumed for a year now would go with the first pick.
The search for the next quarterback in Chicago had a soft opening, because the Bearsâ situation going into the 2023 season demanded that.
Fields was going into his third year, after which the Bears would have to make a decision on his fifth-year option, priced out, fully guaranteed, at more than $20 million for 2025. Meanwhile, because of the trade with Carolina last year, Chicago didnât have to be at the bottom of the league to get the top pickâmeaning that Fields could play reasonably well and still face the reality that the Bears had a better option out there than just paying him.
So the team was judicious in kicking the process off. Step one was Poles mapping out an itinerary that would allow for him to see each of the top quarterbacks live in the fall.
With the benefit of a private jet, he went to Ann Arbor to see Michiganâs J.J. McCarthy against ECU, and Charlotte to see North Carolinaâs Drake Maye against South Carolina on the Saturday of Labor Day weekend, then LSUâs Jayden Daniels against Florida State the next day in Orlando. He pulled a similar double over Thanksgiving weekend, with Oregonâs Bo Nix and Washingtonâs Michael Penix Jr. on back-to-back days in Eugene and Seattle, against their respective rivals, Oregon State and Washington State. Plus there was USC at Notre Dame.
In each case, Poles had the benefit of seeing the guys throw the ball live. But, as the Montana anecdote illuminates, there was a lot more he was looking to come home with than what people could see with their cable subscriptions on those weekends.
âWhen you watch quarterbacks, youâre looking at body language more than even the game,â Poles says. âYou can get the game by watching the tape. Itâs really pregame, how they carry themselves. During the game, if something good happens, how do they react? If it was a bad play, an interception, what does it look like on the sideline in terms of interaction with coaches and other players?â
As luck would have it, Poles got to see all of that on a damp field on that October night.
The Trojans came in 6â0, and the rickety edges to that startâtheyâd needed Herculean efforts to get past Colorado and Arizona the two weeks beforeâcollapsed under a hard-charging effort from the Irish. The defense, again, couldnât stop a nosebleed. The offensive line could handle Notre Dameâs talented front. Williams needed to be Superman.
USC fell behind 24â6 at the half. Williams finished with three picks, failed to hit 200 yards passing and took six sacks. And as it was happening, Poles focused closely on the young quarterback, getting the chance to see his lowest moment as a college football player with his own eyes, through a set of binoculars.
âYou saw a lot of encouragement with teammates, even after the interceptions,â Poles says. âYou saw frustration, too, because it matters to him. But you never saw it become disruptive. You never saw teammates run away from him, or him run away and be by himself, away from his teammates. You saw him talking with the coaches trying to find solutions.â
It was important to see, too, for a couple of reasons. First, every young NFL quarterback is going to have those moments, and how they handle them can color how veterans on their teams see them. Second, Poles went into assessing the quarterbacks with the knowledge, after two years on the job, that not everyone is cut out for the searing spotlight of playing quarterback in Chicagoâwith Fields providing a good example of a guy who could take the bullets that come with the job. Williams, in real time, was showing the poise to do it.
So, at that point, Poles had something, if small, to pair with the tape. He had a good view of Williamsâs regimented warmup routine (âIt had a Steph Curry feel to it,â Poles says.). He had the Montana moment. And he had Williamsâs handling of a very, very difficult night.
Three months later, the Bears wrapped up an encouraging 7â10 campaign that ended with a 5â3 flourish, and Carolina helped Chicago in floundering to 2â15 and locking up the No. 1 pick for Poles and Eberflus. By then, Poles had a baseline of information to work off.
Some came from national scout Francis St. Paul and West Coast area scout Reese Hicks, who kept telling Poles that he needed to get back out to California, and around the people at USC. Heâd find out, they promised, that the narratives that circled Williams while the Trojansâ season circled the drain werenât real. Investigate it yourself, they said. Read our reports. Investigate it.
Meanwhile, Poles, assistant GM Ian Cunningham and director of player personnel Jeff King had drilled down on the tape and started to form a conclusion that Williams was simply different from the rest of the class. The issues he did showâmainly his fumbling and risk-taking tied to playmakingâcould be coached. And he had stuff you couldnât coach in spades, to the point that Poles was reminded of evaluating Patrick Mahomes as a young Kansas City Chiefs exec in 2017.
âThe creativity, the rare instincts and feel to navigate in space and see the entire field, when you see a lot of those, thatâs the part thatâs interesting,â Poles says. âI stole some things that we did with Andy [Reid] when we watched tape of Pat and that whole class. I took a lot of short throws, the bubbles, the screens, the jet sweeps out and looked at the intermediate throws and the deep throws to see what the accuracy looked like there. Thatâs where the completion percentage and all that stuff starts to mess around with the evaluation.
âWe wanted to see it at its purest form.â
Poles and Cunningham dove deeper, looking at all of Williamsâs third downs on one cutup, all his two-minute plays on another, all his plays playing from behind on another. The conclusion, Poles says, kept coming back to a few realities: âThe field vision, the arm strength, the accuracy, all of that was rare. The body type, you were just missing height. Heâs thick and strong and stout in his lowers. He just has the âwowâ factor.â
And in doing all this, Poles and Cunningham were jamming on the accelerator because decisions loomed with Fields, whoâd been a good soldier for them. At exit interviews, Poles told Fields that the situation the organization was faced with was unique, in that, again, the team had finished strong, and still had the first pick. He pledged to him to be transparent and honest, and repeated all of it to Fieldsâs agent, David Mulugheta.
As that was going on, Eberflus was running a parallel track. With incumbent OC Luke Getsy let go, and a coordinator search coming, the coach would be tasked with diving into the tape as aggressively as the front office had, with timing important to everyone, Fields included, as the path for the coming weeks was charted. The good news was, as Poles put it, âThe tape part, that, to me, was the easier part of evaluating Caleb.â
In time, Eberflus would concur.
The harder part in these cases is almost always getting to know the person. Having to do it earlier, to service the expedited timeline, forced Poles to get creative.
The GM instructed all of his personnel people going to all-star games in January to ask players who went to either Oklahoma or USC, or were from Williamsâs hometown of Washington, D.C., about the quarterback. Poles also assigned one of his scouts to call opposing coaches in the Big 12 and Pac-12, and in particular defensive coordinators who game-planned against him.
âThatâs where things started to turn,â Poles says. âYou started to get this feedback from players at the all-star games who were like, âI love this guy. I was in a rut and he helped pull me out. Heâs a dude. Heâs selfless. He takes care of his teammates before he takes care of himself.â Two opposing defensive coordinators: âWe had to change everything before we played him.â If youâre doing that, that tells you enough about the kidâs talent.
âTwo former coaches that were at Oklahoma were like, âMan, I watched his kid carefully, what a great teammate, heâd take the time to call defensive coaches and get a perspective of his game so he can adapt and adjust his game and get stronger.â Iâm looking at Ian and Flus and Iâm like, If you duped this many people, youâre a psychopath. It was too consistent.â
And through Eberflusâs offensive coordinator search, he and Poles got to interview USC assistant Kliff Kingsbury, where theyâd get insight on Williamsâs dad, Carl, whoâd gotten a reputation as a helicopter parent. When they raised that, Kingsbury swiftly cut them off.
âDonât even go there,â Kingsbury told the Bearsâ guys. âYouâve got a businessman whoâs just looking to put his son in the best situation, on the business side of things. When it comes to football, yes, heâll want to set him up to make sure heâs in a good situation. Once that happens ⌠itâs all good.â
At the interview in Los Angeles, Kingsbury told the Bears heâd seen Carl Williams once at the USC football facility all year.
As fate would have it, the former Arizona Cardinals coach wound up back in the NFL, landing as OC for the team that had the second pick, the Commanders, rather than the one with the first. The Bears wound up with former Seattle Seahawks OC Shane Waldron, picking him for his experience, his system and his work with quarterbacks, which most recently included bringing Geno Smithâs career back from football purgatory.
Once Waldron was aboard, Eberflus and the coaches could complete the tape review which, unsurprisingly, matched closely with what Poles and his scouts had. And it happened with Eberflus efforting not to talk to anyone, most notably, the Bearsâ personnel staff, about the quarterbacks first, so he could get a pure, unprejudiced view of each one. Williams jumped off the screen.
âI just watched it that way and I found myself looking at it and it was pretty evident pretty quick that the arm talent is what stood out,â Eberflus says. âThe accuracy, and, really, to me, [with] the really good quarterbacks, you always look for the ball speeds. So he can really change the ball speed when heâs throwing a screen, when heâs throwing a fade, when heâs throwing an in-cut. He understands space, open space, and has the natural ability, the instincts to really change that ball speed when necessary to be accurate.â
Eberflus would later meet with Williamsâs throwing coach, Will Hewlett, and put science next to his evaluation. Hewlett told Eberflus that where most quarterbacks biomechanically have four-mph range on their throws, from touch throws to drive throws, Williams had a staggering 10-mph range, which quantified the control he had over the ball.
It was another brick in the wall. As the combine approached, a decision was crystallizing.
As he had at the 2023 combine, Poles reserved a room at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Indianapolis, in an effort to be a little more out-of-the-way than heâd be if he was staying at the bustling JW Marriott or Downtown Marriott. Last year, it was about not having everyone approaching him about trading the first pick. This year, likewise, it allowed for him to discreetly have some visitors to the suite the Bears booked for him.
Knowing Williams wouldnât throw or work out, and already having dialed in on him as the guy if Chicago was going to trade Fields, Poles had two big boxes to check. One, he and the staff would have their 15-minute formal interview with Williams, their first chance to go face-to-face with the Heisman winner. Two, Williamsâs team would come visit Poles in their suite.
On the former, the Bears had Williams as the last guest to their suite at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Williams strode easily into the room on that Wednesday night, at 10:40 p.m. Chicago, for its part, doesnât have a room thatâs trying to break a guy in those 15 minutes to see how he reacts. The atmosphere was relaxed. The Bears started with Waldron and the coaches teaching Williams a concept from the teamâs new playbook. They went through some of Williamsâs tougher moments at USC, to see if heâd take ownership for them. Then, they settled into normal conversation.
âYou just recognized that heâs easy to talk to,â Eberflus says. âPersonality is there. Heâs a guyâs guy. Heâs gonna fit in with his teammates.â
At the end of the session, with Poles, Eberflus, Cunningham, Waldron, team president Kevin Warren and pass-game coordinator Thomas Brown watching, the Bears asked that he teach the play theyâd given him back to them. Williams did that with ease.
Two days later, on Friday of combine week, Poles welcomed members of Williamsâs team to his suite at the Hyatt. Among the five guys to represent him was a lawyer and a body work guy, and a trainer, and in talking through things with them a clearer picture emerged for the Bears on how the kid approached the sport.
âYou knew that structure mattered to him,â Poles says. âThere were people in place to help him be successful. As you went along, you understand thereâs people put in place that are there that allow him to play ball to be the best player he can be. Itâs not like, âHey, I have a team to say I have a team.â Everybodyâs got a role, and itâs to allow him to be the best football player he can be and eliminate as many distractions and stresses as possible.
âA lot of times we have to help them put structure together. This kid already has it there for him.â
Another detail that emerged from the meetingâWilliams had rented out a field at a local high school to throw in the downtime he got through his week in Indy.
Even with the increasing inevitability that heâd be the first pick, he wanted to be at his very best for the pro day, two and a half weeks later on March 20. The Bears had previously scheduled Williamsâs 30 visit, where theyâd bring him to Halas Hall in Chicagoâs north suburbs, for the following Tuesday, March 6, as part of their ongoing effort to speed up the process.
But sensing that Williams returning to L.A., then flying back to Chicago, and back to L.A. again may not serve anyoneâs best interest, Poles resolved with Williams and his group to reschedule that visit for after the pro day, with plans for dinner next on the calendar, two nights ahead of USCâs pro day in California.
Before going back to Los Angeles, the Bears had to firm up the decision to move on from Fields, one that wasnât easy for Poles or Eberflus because of the person their now former quarterback is, steady and tough as nails, as theyâd worked through two years of rebuilding.
The hope in doing the 30 visit on March 6 was that they could check a last boxâgetting Williams to go through a physicalâbefore moving Fields. But with Williamsâs trip to Chicago rescheduled, and the start of free agency, when quarterbacking chairs would fill up, the time to wait and be patient was passing. The market for Fields hadnât quite developed, but the Pittsburgh Steelersâ dustup with, and subsequent trade of, former first-rounder Kenny Pickett over the Russell Wilson signing gave Chicago an opportunity.
Knowing itâd be a good landing spot for Fields, Poles worked with the Steelers on trading the quarterback there for a 2024 sixth-rounder that would become a fourth if Fields played more than half the snaps. And as he closed in on the deal, on St. Patrickâs Day morning, Poles drove over to Eberflusâs house so the two could deliver the news to Fields together.
âWe thanked him for his leadership, for the work ethic and just the man that he is, how heâs always been a wonderful guy,â Eberflus says. âI just told him, âHey, I really enjoyed our relationship together the last couple years.â I said, âThat certainly doesnât end here.â The relationship that he and I built over the first couple years is special and no one can ever take that away from us.â
They thanked Fields for everything. Fields thanked them, and said he appreciated their alignment and open communication through a difficult few weeks. And then, Poles and Eberflus started calling team leaders, to let them know the trade was coming before the news of it broke.
Two nights later, the Bears were at The Bird Streets Club in West Hollywood, with Williams and a smattering of his USC teammates.
Williams, the Bearsâ contingent noticed, never took his phone out of his pocket once. As it had been in Indy, the conversation came easily. In a lot of cases, Williams, in the most natural way, was carrying the conversation. He made eye contact with everyone.
âWe just wanted to see how he interacted,â Eberflus says. âAnd really the only thing that you can glean from [a dinner like that] is personality. He could talk about a wide range of topics and with ease. Very conversational, personality is really good. So that was cool.â
Knowing the Bears were getting between four and five hours with Williams the next day at USC, on the Tuesday before the Wednesday pro day, Eberflus asked his colleagues to give him an hour with the quarterback one-on-one, to start Williamsâs day.
The two sat down and went through his entire football journey, with much of the discussion moving to the support Williamsâs parents had given him along the way, from the decision to switch from running back to quarterback in youth football, to coming up with a plan when he was in high school and pouring into it, to transferring after his freshman year and following coach Lincoln Riley from Oklahoma to USC.
âI found out during that conversation that his parents are so supportive, do anything for him, love him and have been great the entire way,â Eberflus says. âAnd itâs really a tribute to them, the kind of man he is, and the kind of character he has now.â
Eberflus then took Williams through the Bearsâ rebuild, where the locker room was from a leadership standpoint, the progress theyâd made through two years, and how he felt like the quarterback was fortunate to be coming to a team that wasnât at ground zero. And as he did that, losing track of time, not knowing heâd gone 15 minutes over his allotted hour already, Eberflus got a text from Poles, half-joking, âYou getting close to being done in there?â
Eberflus responded that it was important for the two of them to finish up.
They did, and the larger group then came in, with Waldron taking charge from there, running a three-hour meeting hyper-focused on football. The OC went back to what the Bears had taught Williams at the combine, and he was able to recall it. The Bears kept testing his recall, and he kept passing those tests, as they went through an install. He asked questions. He was on it. And it made the rest of the visit to L.A., with Williamsâs throwing session on deck, a formality.
âHeâs not one of these kids that acts like they have it figured out and then you stump them later,â Poles says. âIf he was uncomfortable, heâd want to go back and learn it again. He had really detailed structure to how he takes notesâthat stood out. Pro day itself, that part, throwing the ball is easy for him, so just seeing him work under center, footwork, all of that comes easy to him. The on-the-field stuff was the least of my concerns.â
There was one surprise during the workout, though. One of Williamsâs future teammates, Keenan Allen, showed up for it. The Bears told Allen, when he came in for his physical after the Bears traded for him, that theyâd be in L.A. for the pro day. But there was no expectation Allen would show up for it. That he did was a nice twist to a good week for the team. It also foreshadowed the next, and final, step.
Williams was one of six draft prospects to arrive for their 30 visits in Chicago on the night of April 2, with Oklahoma tackle Tyler Guyton, West Virginia center Zach Frazier, Alabama rusher Dallas Turner, Boston College corner Elijah Jones and Miami safety Kam Kinchens.
The Bears had Guyton, Frazier, Turner, Jones and Kinchens go with a group of coaches to Eddie Merlotâs in nearby Lincolnshire for dinner. Meanwhile, Williams was sent to Sophia Steak in Lake Forest, where heâd meet a crew of his future teammatesâtight end Cole Kmet, guard Teven Jenkins, linebacker T.J. Edwards, and receiver DJ Mooreâin a private room. Poles dropped Williams off there, and went to eat in another part of the restaurant.
The idea was one he and Eberflus had mulled for a while.
âWe said, âI think it would be good that he meets with our players because thatâs ultimately what matters,ââ Eberflus says. âUltimately, heâs going to be a teammate of these guys.â And we want to get their feedback on, exactly, Is he a good teammate? Is he a guyâs guy? Is he easy to talk to? Is he easy to get along with?â
Check, check, check and check.
âYou canât fool the locker room,â Poles continues. âWe got this roster and our leadership group, the core of it, in a really good place. Theyâre a bunch of really good human beings, so I thought it was important for them to be a part of this journey and this decision. I wanted them to make sure that they saw for themselves what this kid stood for and his passion for the game. I just felt like that was really important.
âAs a staff, weâd spent so much time with him, at that point, that we all felt comfortable. I wanted our players to get a feel for him, and they did. The feedback was outstanding.â
The next day, the Bears repeated some of the things theyâd already done, and some things that Poles had borrowedâor, to use his word, âstoleââfrom Reid and the Chiefs.
The coaches again installed with Williams early in the day and, after a midday break, came back to it and asked him to teach it back to test his recall. That was no more of a problem in Chicago for Williams than it had been in Indy or Los Angeles.
They also, finally, got the medical box checked with Williams. Theyâd been O.K. delaying it in March, even though it meant trading Fields without getting a physical on Williams first, because Williams really only had the pulled hamstring his sophomore year in college as a documented issue. But there was some relief, and finality, that came with the physical returning clean.
And they got to see Williams in what would be his workplace three weeks later, and watch as he got a first-hand view of the resources there, and what had been built, and would be in place for him, when he arrived for good.
âYouâre not selling yourself, but at the same time, you do want to show all the way from the top, thereâs an investment to the players that are here and weâre not really playing around with that,â Poles says. âI like all the guys seeing that. It was cool for him to see that too.â
Later in the day on April 3, Williams left one last time before the draft and everyone in the Bearsâ building had a good feeling about where things were going.
But no promises were made.
Of course, everyone knew what was going to happen.
Still, Poles and Eberflus wanted to give Williams his day.
âItâs not like I kept him in the dark by any means,â Poles says. âThere was some conversation about some things you talk about, that have to do with the futureâNext week, thisâll happen, thatâll happen. I never gave him that official, Hey. we are taking you tomorrow, conversation. Was it a surprise to him? No, but I wanted him to go appreciate the process. You only get to go to the draft once in your life. We wanted to keep that as authentic as we possibly could."
So on the phone on draft night, Poles told Williams the league told him to hold the pick for five minutes, and he joked heâd been holding it for a month. Williams shot back that the Bears had been holding it for five months.
Of course, it hadnât been that long. But this had become such an obvious decision for Chicago, that Williamsâs guess on it wasnât that far off.
And with it done, Poles could reflect back on the start of all this, and cutting the deal with former Panthers GM Scott Fitterer a year ago, when the Panthers came up from No. 9 to No. 1 to get their own franchise quarterback, sending Moore and a package of picks to the Bears in return. Never, at that time, could Poles have imagined that Williams would be part of that deal.
âIt was a move I made, one, because I wanted to continue to evaluate Justin, and two, I knew we had to keep building our football team, Poles says. âWe needed more players to close the gap on some of the years prior, with all the trades before. It was just a move to improve the football team.â
The GM then paused, and continued, âIt ended up being a jackpot situation.â
With that luck on their side, the Bears wound up arriving at the conclusion most figured they would once Carolina secured the first pick for them. But they didnât get there without doing a lot of work first. And now, with that work done, the quarterback Poles saw in South Bend can go about the business of chasing guys like the one he endeavored to meet that night.
Chicago Bears rookie quarterback Caleb Williams' greatness has been evident since his high school days, as his athleticism and arm strength was unprecedented for those who coached him.
Williams was the consensus top quarterback recruit in the country out of Gonzaga College High School in Washington D.C. and the velocity that he put on his throws at a young age foreshadowed what he has become. Just ask his high school offensive coordinator, Danny Schaechter.
During preseason camp in 2018, Schaechter caught a pass from Williams and looked down at his left hand, which was throbbing in pain and covered in blood. He realized that a pass from Williams had broken his wedding ring and cut his finger open.
"I'm like, 'What in the heck did I do?' And then I realized, 'Oh crap, my wedding ring is split in half,'" Schaechter told ESPN. Schaechter now wears his wedding ring on a chain around his neck when he is doing anything football-related, thanks to Caleb Williams.
"Because of Caleb, I take my wedding ring off anytime I'm going to do some football stuff," he said. "I don't want anybody to break my wedding ring, but he was the only one who actually did it."
Williams's arm strength was one of several key traits that helped him get taken with the No. 1 pick in last week's NFL draft.
That arm strength was on display in 2018, and is even more prominent now in 2024.