INDIANAPOLIS — With the No. 1 overall pick in hand for a second consecutive year, Bears general manager Ryan Poles once again said he needs to be “blown away” by a prospect to take a quarterback and move on from Justin Fields.
On Tuesday, he sounded like he’s approaching that point with USC star Caleb Williams.
Poles never has met Williams — the Bears have a meeting scheduled Wednesday at the NFL Scouting Combine — but has done exhaustive analysis of his play and has a hefty file of notes.
What’s in there? That Williams has “a really good feel for the game,” plays the position like an “artist” and has “pieces that are similar” to what Poles and the Chiefs saw in two-time MVP Patrick Mahomes as a prospect.
“We’ve gone through pretty much his whole career, broken down different situations — he’s talented,” Poles told the Sun-Times. “There’s no other way to talk about it. Big arm, can throw it from different angles. . . . Pocket presence is really good.
“There’s some areas to clean up . . . [but] at the same time, there’s a guy who’s not afraid to make big plays. You can see him understand his entire team and what he had to do to win games. There’s a lot to like in terms of talent. I’m really looking forward to meeting the person.”
Everything points toward a reset at quarterback for the Bears, and Williams is on his own level. He won the Heisman Trophy in 2022 and threw 72 touchdown passes and only 10 interceptions in the last two seasons.
LSU’s Jayden Daniels wrested the Heisman from Williams last season and has compelling upside, but there’s less certainty with him than Williams. North Carolina’s Drake Maye was projected to be the No. 2 quarterback in the class most of last season, but some aren’t convinced. There are other intriguing options — Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy, Oregon’s Bo Nix and Washington’s Michael Penix Jr. — but it’s hard to imagine any team bypassing Williams at No. 1.
Poles doesn’t seem hesitant on him. He saw a quarterback who sometimes held the ball too long and had fumbling trouble — both issues for Fields, too — but the necessary elements are there.
The biggest common trait he saw in Williams and Mahomes was Williams’ ability to throw from a variety of arm angles and make something out of nothing, which Mahomes does better than anyone.
“Not a lot of guys can do that,” Poles said.
He credited co-director of player personnel Jeff King for creating the Bears’ internal categories of “artists” and “surgeons,” and Williams and Mahomes would fall in the former. He mentioned retired stars Peyton Manning and Tom Brady as surgeons because they were traditional pocket passers with textbook mechanics, as opposed to an artist “that’s really creative [and] doesn’t draw within the lines.”
So which category does Poles prefer?
“Winners,” he said.
The Bears are looking beyond Williams’ splashy stats, of course. Poles estimated they’ll talk to 30 to 40 people about Williams before the draft at the end of April, and their 20-minute chat Wednesday won’t answer nearly all their questions. That’s more of a meet-and-greet, complete with darts and a putting challenge and some cursory conversation about his career and football IQ, with more extensive interviews coming at USC’s pro day next month and likely a visit to Halas Hall.
Bears coach Matt Eberflus said Tuesday a quarterback’s “wiring” is crucial as it pertains to leadership, resilience and accepting criticism. He also scrutinizes composure and performance in high-pressure scenarios such as third downs and two-minute drills.
One unique aspect of evaluating Williams, though, is that he doesn’t have an agent. While an agent can help navigate the pre-draft process, rookie contracts are mostly predetermined based on where a player is picked.
“Being transparent here: If you’re considered the No. 1 pick, I kinda understand not doing the whole agent thing,” Poles said. “There’s a benefit to having an agent . . . but I also understand it from a business perspective, financially.”
As Poles saw with Roquan Smith and more recently in contract-extension talks when Jaylon Johnson was between agents last year, there’s a liability for speculation to spin out of control, whereas a representative could step in and squash that without the player needing to get involved.
For example, it has long been rumored that Williams is apprehensive about the Bears because of their quarterback history, but that has never come directly from him.
“No concerns about that at all,” Poles said. “I’d love to know why, if that was the case. We’ve made good progress in terms of having really good infrastructure for whoever were to come in — or if Justin were to stay here.”
As Poles discussed the potential path of drafting Williams and trading Fields, he sounded different than he did in a similar scenario a year ago. He didn’t talk openly then about trading Fields and wanting to “do right by him,” nor did he speak as highly about those quarterback prospects as he did about Williams. The Bears appear to be coming increasingly comfortable with that scenario.
