In this year’s NFL draft the Chicago Bears had the league’s first overall pick. Following the hype of UFC’s Caleb Williams, the Bears took the bait and made Williams the top prize. Willams came to the NFL with many honors including winning the Heisman Trophy in 2022, the Maxwell Award in 2022, winning the Walter Camp Award in that same year and had his number 13 retired by the Trojans at the University of Southern California.
His drafting seemed like a win-win, however, right after he was drafted the Washington Commanders selected LSU’s Jayden Daniels. The Bears were in this position in 1970 at least sort of. That year the Pittsburgh Steelers and Chicago Bears were tied for the opportunity to make the league’s first overall pick and then commissioner Pete Rozelle decided that a coin toss would determine who got that first pick. George Halas was the owner for Chicago in 1970 and of course it was Art Rooney Sr. in Pittsburgh. The Steelers won the toss and chose Terry Bradshaw. The Steelers would go on to win four Super Bowls with Bradshaw calling the offensive signals.
The Bears? They were up next but traded the pick to Green Bay who then selected defensive tackle Mike McCoy. What Chicago received in return was Lee Roy Caffey, Elijah Pitts, and Bob Hyland. They would not have a draft pick until the third round. Up to that point the following quarterbacks were drafted, Mike Phipps (Cleveland), Dennis Shaw (Buffalo), and Bill Cappleman (Minnesota). The Bears have been waiting for a franchise quarterback since.
The thought was that Caleb Williams is that guy. But thus far in 2024, he appears to be a bust especially compared to Jayden Daniels. The Commanders are 7-2 and the Bears 4-4. Washington is in first place and the Bears in last. Daniels has thrown for 1,945 yards and Williams 1,665. However, the quarterback ratings are much different. Daniels thus far has a mark of 106.7 compared to Williams’ 83.0. There is a 10 percent difference in the two quarterbacks’ completion percentage that sees Caleb with a 61.4% mark and Jayden at 71.5%.
Caleb Williams has thrown for nine touchdowns in eight games where Daniels has equaled that. Five interceptions have Williams thrown and Daniels just two. While offensive lines play a big part in sacks, Williams has gone down 29 times thus far in 2024 where Daniels has been sacked only 17 times. When it comes to running with the ball, Caleb Williams has rushed for 221 yards on 38 attempts for an impressive 5.81 yards per carry. He has yet to rush for a score. In the same number of games, Daniels has run 82 times amassing 459 yards for an equally outstanding 5.5 per carry mark. The difference? Daniels has reached the end zone four times. If anyone was choosing a starting quarterback between the two, rest assured it would probably be Jayden Daniels at this point.
In that 1970 draft, not only did the Bears miss drafting hall of famer Bradshaw, they fell one pick short at 54th overall of drafting another hall of famer that also went to the Steelers, Mel Blount. If Caleb Williams turns out to be a legitimate bust much like Ryan Leaf turned out to be, the Bears will continue to be impatient looking for that long awaited franchise quarterback. Not since the days of Sid Luckman has the city of Chicago had a standout quarterback.
Having come and gone has been Jim McMahon, Jay Cuter, Jim Harbaugh, Erik Kramer, Rex Grossman, Kyle Orton, and Jim Miller among many others none of whom became hall of fame worthy or led the Bears to an NFL title or championship game apart from McMahon who was greatly assisted by one of the best defenses in history along with having Walter Payton in the backfield.
