Mark Potash

With No. 1 pick Caleb Williams, proven weapons in DJ Moore, Keenan Allen and D’Andre Swift and a touted rookie in Rome Odunze, it’s up to the Bears’ new offensive coordinator to make it work.

The Bears ended up taking five players after giving up a 2025 fourth-rounder to pick Kansas defensive end Austin Booker in the fifth round.

Just when it appeared the Bears had used their final pick on Iowa punter Tory Taylor, they traded a 2025 fourth-round pick to the Bills to take the 6-4, 253-pound edge rusher from Kansas who had eight sacks and 12 tackles for loss in 2023.

The Bears have been known for their defense — The Monsters of the Midway. But with Caleb Williams, DJ Moore, Keenan Allen, Rome Odunze, Cole Kmet & Co., the offense has the chance to become the identity of a franchise for the first time since the Sid Luckman era.

Even Caleb Williams was asking Poles why the Bears have had such a hard time developing a quality quarterback. But the Bears’ GM has responded by not only getting Williams, but a solid supporting cast that should put him in a position to succeed.

It remains to be seen if Williams and Odunze will be as good as advertised, but draft analysts were virtually unanimous about the Bears’ draft: They took advantage of a tremendous opportunity. “There was only one rational path for the Bears to take, and they took it,”

The Bears tried an ill-fated apprenticeship plan with Mitch Trubisky in 2017 (behind Mike Glennon) and Justin Fields in 2021 (behind Andy Dalton). But the 2024 Bears are set up for Williams as the Week 1 starter.

The Bears have been here before in their search for a quarterback — Jay Cutler, Mitch Trubisky, Justin Fields — and have found only disappointment. But Williams not only is a cut above as a prospect, the Bears are set up for him to succeed where others failed.

The Sun-Times’ experts pick whom they think the team will take with the No. 9 pick in Thursday night’s draft.