Despite playoff expectations, Caleb Williams won’t be Bear facing most pressure in 2024 originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
Barring a last-minute stunner, the Bears will select USC quarterback Caleb Williams with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft and inject a heavy dose of NOS into a rebuild that is entering a new phase.
Bears general manager Ryan Poles was disciplined and deliberate in free agency. The Bears got better and added depth without overspending, and Poles cemented the Bears as an offseason winner with his trade for wide receiver Keenan Allen.
Poles cleared the way for Williams to land when he traded quarterback Justin Fields to the Pittsburgh Steelers for a conditional 2025 sixth-round draft pick.
Many in league circles view Williams as a “generational” talent. He will enter the NFL with arguably the best supporting cast a No. 1 overall pick has had in his rookie season in the modern era.
All that adds up to massive expectations this fall. Not the faux expectations the still rebuilding 2023 Bears entered last season with before an 0-4 start.
No, the 2024 Bears should enter the 2024 season with playoff-or-bust expectations. They went 7-10 last season and blew three games in which they owned a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter. They did that despite starting 0-4 and having Fields miss four games in the middle of the season.
Given their last-place schedule and the assumed upgrades at quarterback, offensive coordinator, running back, and wide receiver, 10 wins should be attainable.
A lot of that pressure will fall on Williams. That comes with being the No. 1 pick who has been hyped for three seasons and drawn comparisons to Patrick Mahomes.
There will be massive expectations for Williams. Some who wanted Fields to stay will hoist unfair rookie-year benchmarks on him. Those should be tempered. There will be rookie bumps. There will be multi-interception games and probably some head-scratching mistakes. But there will also be an excessive…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/despite-playoff-expectations-caleb-williams-171131408.html
Author : NBC Sports Chicago
Publish date : 2024-03-22 17:11:31
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