A lot of negative things can be said about the Chicago Bears. They have 10 wins over the past two seasons, they haven’t won a playoff game since 2010, and they don’t have a history of a winning culture. They’ve also had a slew of head coaches, general managers, and quarterbacks over the years, which shows how bad things have gotten for this franchise.
It is easy to have a negative thought pop into your head when evaluating them at this point. They have a lot of promise but a similar level of promise has failed this team before.
Since Ryan Poles was hired as general manager, however, things feel different. We don’t know if Matt Eberflus is the head coach of the future, and we certainly don’t know if Caleb Williams is the guy in the long-haul. Both of them have to win football games to stick around.
That’s especially true for Williams, who was selected first overall in the 2024 NFL draft. The word “generational” has been thrown around before, which might be a stretch, but there is no doubting that he can be a star in this league.
So far, it seems like the Bears have been committed to having the best version of Williams on the field. They have slowly been upgrading the offensive line and the weapons around him. With guys like receivers DJ Moore, Keenan Allen and Rome Odunze, along with running back D’Andre Swift and tight ends Cole Kmet and Gerald Everett, there will be no shortage of help.
Another thing they need to help Williams with is their commitment to the off-the-field noise. He has and will likely continue to hear negativity. He may eventually be great, but hitting the ground running in the NFL as a true rookie is borderline impossible.
This is what Williams must do to be successful. The outside noise that may come in from former players, fans, and media is just that, noise. Finding a way to block it all out is a key to his success as a player. If he does all of these things (along with developing his football skills), he could go on to be an all-time great Bears QB.