© Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Caleb Williams Ready to Rewrite Narrative About Bears Passing Game
The new Bears quarterback realizes he's not going to a team with a proud history of passing but wants to rewrite their history.
Caleb Williams wanted to go to a team he was convinced wanted to win.
It would be difficult to dispute he has after all the changes made on offense made by the Bears, including drafting Williams No. 1 overall on Thursday night in the NFL Draft at Detroit.
Williams let out a roar on the stage as he was reaching commissioner Roger Goodell after his name was announced, indicating to everyone he likes where he's headed even after all the early reports he didn't want to come to Chicago.
"I'd say the biggest thing is that they want to win," Williams said. "That was the biggest and most important thing. That was really it. That's what it really came down to, and that aligns with me.
"I want to be around people that want to win, I want to be around people that want to achieve high because it only makes me better. That only holds me accountable and it makes me excited to be around people like that. You’re who you are but you also are the people that are closest to you. So having people around you that want to win only elevates you and your game.”
With the ninth pick they Bears added Washington wide receiver Rome Odunze to a receiver corps now filled with dangerous targets.
Williams is well aware of the Bears' reputation for losing in recent years. It's been since 2020 they were in the playoffs, 2018 they won the division and 2010 when they won a playoff game. They were in the Super Bowl last in 2006.
It's a history of struggling quarterbacks.
"That may be the narrative," Williams said. "For me, I handle my job, I be a great teammate first and foremost. I handle business on and off the field and then I go to work.
"I enjoy what I do. I love what I do. I'm in there with my guys and my guys are seeing me, they see how hard I work, their guy, their QB, and we go get it. We go win games together. That's the biggest thing is winning games together because I can't win a game by himself. Keenan Allen can't win a game by himself. And so making sure that we’re all together, offense, defense, special teams, and we go get it."
Williams said he wasn't sure he'd be with the Bears until he took his top-30 visit earlier in April at Halas Hall.
"For me it was after the top-30 visit. I felt good at that point," he said. "I got to go around the guys, the coaches, the executives. And so I was around the facility mainly.
"I didn't really go into the city. Obviously the facility is where I'm going to be at for the majority of my time, throughout weeks and days. I was around the guys in the facility, and I felt comfortable. I felt good. I was happy, and ready to go."
Williams said he realized the Bears' history of passing struggles.
"Yeah, you obviously look into it," Williams said. "To be the only team without a 3,000-yard passer, believe."
Uh, that's 4,000 yards.
But while you're there, they haven't had a 3,000-yard passer since Mitchell Trubisky in 2019, so...
"You look into it and you wonder why," Williams said after being corrected. "I asked questions, obviously. I have no shame in asking questions. So, you know, you ask why and things like that. They’re all for answering questions.
"They told the truth and that's what that was. They told me the truth. They told me and my dad the truth about why and what and where and how it's going to change. That's what we're excited about."
Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven
