INDIANAPOLIS — USC quarterback Caleb Williams said Friday he’s undaunted by the Bears’ long track record of problems at the position as they consider drafting him with the No. 1 overall pick.
“I’m my own player,” he said. “And I tend to like to create history and rewrite history.”
He spoke highly of meeting with Bears general manager Ryan Poles and coach Matt Eberflus and their staff on Wednesday, but said it wasn’t an in-depth interview given they had only 20 minutes.
The Bears will talk more extensively with Williams at USC pro day March 20 and in a visit to Halas Hall. He said the biggest thing he wants to learn about the organization is, “Do you want to win?”
They likely offer the best chance to win quickly of any team at the top of the draft. The Bears’ own pick is No. 9, and they only got the top pick via a trade last year with the Panthers.
“I mean, the Bears were a 7-10 team last year, and that’s pretty good for a team that has the first pick,” he said. “They’ve got a good defense. They’ve got good players on offense. It’s pretty exciting if you can you go into a situation like that.”
Williams established himself as the favorite to go No. 1 in the draft with his spectacular 2022 season. He threw 42 touchdown passes and just five interceptions on his way to winning the Heisman Trophy.
His next season wasn’t quite as dominant, but Williams still left little doubt about his stature as the best quarterback in a class that could see four chosen in the top eight picks.
Williams had no doubt he’d go first.
“It’s not a thought in my mind,” he said. “I don’t think that I’m not gonna be No. 1. I put in all the hard work, all of the time, effort, energy into being that.
“I don’t think of a Plan B. That’s kind of how I do things in my life. I don’t think of a Plan B; stay on Plan A, and then when things don’t work out, find a way to make Plan A work.”
Assuming the Bears stay at No. 1 and draft Williams, it’ll be the first time in their history they’ve picked a quarterback first overall.
Their highest drafted quarterbacks were Mitch Trubisky (2017), Bob Williams (1951) and Hall of Famer Sid Luckman (1939). Before Trubisky, the last time they drafted a quarterback in the top 10 was 1982 when they took Jim McMahon fifth.
