Bears Players Reportedly Blown Away By Caleb Williams At Pre-Draft Dinner
GM Ryan Poles knew how important the decision to draft a quarterback would be. Getting it right could mean a decade-plus of possible playoff and Super Bowl contention. Getting it wrong likely meant he’d lose his job in three years. The gravity of his decision wasn’t lost on him. Poles had a vision for the Chicago Bears, and that meant finding the quarterback he felt had the necessary mental and physical attributes to take on the NFL. As winter gave way to spring this year, it became clear that Caleb Williams of USC was his guy.
Months of evaluations had led him to this realization. The young quarterback had arm strength, accuracy, poise, tremendous improvisational skills, and a relentless competitive drive. His love for the game and how much his teammates loved and respected him stood out the most. He knew about a month before the draft that Williams was the guy. However, he needed to be sure. So Poles and head coach Matt Eberflus hatched an unorthodox plan. According to Albert Breer of the MMQB, they would get together the Bears’ locker room leaders — Cole Kmet, D.J. Moore, Teven Jenkins, and T.J. Edwards — and have them assess Williams for themselves during dinner at a local restaurant.
The reasoning was simple, and it got the result they were hoping for.
“We said, ‘I think it would be good that he meets with our players because that’s ultimately what matters,’” Eberflus says. “Ultimately, he’s going to be a teammate of these guys.’ And we want to get their feedback on, exactly, Is he a good teammate? Is he a guy’s guy? Is he easy to talk to? Is he easy to get along with?”
Check, check, check and check.
“You can’t fool the locker room,” Poles continues. “We got this roster and our leadership group, the core of it, in a really good place. They’re 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.
“As a staff, we’d 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.”
Caleb Williams walked into a tough situation.
Remember, those guys had all been quite vocal about their desire for the Bears to keep Justin Fields. The former Bears quarterback was beloved in the locker room, so trading him was likely not received well. So Williams operated “behind the sticks,” as football people would say. True to form, that didn’t seem to bother him at all. He handled the dinner with an effortless grace, showing his trademark self-confidence and ability to communicate. Kmet admitted his preconceived notions were way off the mark when asked about it later.
This is a great sign. This means that Caleb Williams wasn’t intimidated by the atmosphere. He was able to convince a table full of veterans that he isn’t some media hype job. He is a football player, a competitor, and 1000% committed to being great. That dinner was the final confirmation Poles needed. Williams was the pick. The only thing left to do was determine how to build the infrastructure around him moving forward. Selecting Rome Odunze at #9 was a great step in that direction.
The Bears feel they have the right guy, and the locker room is already invested.