The Chicago Bears are taking the next step toward likely making Caleb Williams the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.
Williams will head to Chicago for a top-30 visit with the Bears in the first week of April, Bears general manager Ryan Poles shared with reporters at the NFL‘s league meetings on Monday. The team will also get a medical evaluation of Williams when he visits Halas Hall.
The top-30 visit won’t be the first time that the Bears will meet with Williams during the draft process. They met with the quarterback at the combine in late February and again at USC‘s Pro Day last week.
As Poles led a strong contingent of members from the Bears’ organization who went to Los Angeles to watch Williams work out, it also gave the team an opportunity to get insight from those who’ve been closest to the quarterback over the last two seasons.
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Williams’ teammates and coaches raved about his character, according to Poles.
“When you talk to his teammates, they don’t like him, they love him,” Poles said. “His leadership, how he brings people together. He’s intentional with his leadership. Same goes with the staff. I’m having a hard time finding a person that doesn’t like him or even love him and thinks that he can reach the highest limits. The feedback’s been good.”
Poles later added that Williams never touched his phone during the team’s dinner with him last week, saying that he was intentional with his conversations with team staffers.
The comment from Poles on Williams’ character matches what USC wide receiver Brenden Rice told FOX Sports’ Keyshawn Johnson on the “All Facts No Brakes” last week.
“He’s a dynamic guy,” Rice said of Williams. “He’s gonna battle day in and day out. I have full trust in him because I’ve had to follow him, and he’s led us time and time again. He’s brought us back to earth. …[He’s] the type of guy you want to go play with and play for.”
Rice also said he doesn’t envision his college teammate trying to avoid playing for the Bears.
“I don’t see him going ahead and pulling one of those Eli Mannings,” Rice said. “I think he’s gonna go stick out the situation and ball out in the beautiful city of Chicago because that’s who he is.”
Williams has been highly expected to be the No. 1 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft for more than a year, with many draft evaluators calling him one of the best quarterback prospects since the turn of the century. There was some debate, though, on whether the Bears would actually select Williams, as Justin Fields impressed late in the 2023 season.
But the Bears put an end to that option on March 16, trading Fields to the Pittsburgh Steelers for a conditional 2025 sixth-round pick.
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