The NFL draft is one of the most intriguing events on the sports calendar because of the unpredictability. Which teams will select certain players and at what points over the three days? Will a franchise trade up to secure a coveted prospect or trade back to add future picks?
Anything and everything is on the table at 8 p.m. ET Thursday in Detroit. Well, except for Caleb Williams.
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The USC quarterback is all but guaranteed to go No. 1 overall to the Chicago Bears. While other players will stress about being picked, he knows he’ll wait only a few minutes to hear NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell read his name at the podium. He'll then walk onstage, shake hands, take photos and start preparing to become the team’s savior.
“It’s a big moment, but I’ll definitely be happy,” Williams told the "TODAY" show in an interview that aired Thursday. "It’s a long time for an even longer time to come. So I’m ready. I’m ready for the moment and ready to be welcomed onstage in my suit and have a blast.”
Asked whether he is going to tear up during such an emotional moment, Williams said no.
“I don’t think I am, because I’ve kind of gone over it multiple times in my head, just like I did the Heisman,” he said. “I didn’t cry at the Heisman [ceremony]. Normally I cry after losses and big, big championship games and things like that. … But all the emotions on the field that you see, I probably won’t have those. Those are normally a bunch of adrenaline, a bunch of 60 minutes of kicking somebody’s tail.”
Gavin Morris, USC’s assistant athletic director and director of player development, agreed Williams will be cool, calm and collected.
The NFL draft “is no different than being down four [points] with 1:20 left on the clock and you have to drive,” Morris said. “Some people are built differently.”
Williams is the consensus top prospect after a dominant college career at USC and Oklahoma. Last season he threw for 3,633 yards, 30 touchdowns and only five interceptions. The previous season he won the Heisman Trophy as the best player in college football, with 4,075 yards, 37 touchdowns and just four interceptions over 13 games.
Williams, a Washington, D.C., native, has drawn comparisons to Kansas City Chiefs superstar Patrick Mahomes for his arm strength, touch and instincts. When a play breaks down, he doesn’t get rattled. He thrives in the chaos better than any other quarterback prospect in years.
It’s why the Bears are salivating at the chance to add him to the roster. After years of lackluster results, Williams represents something fans haven’t had in a long time: hope.
Chicago's franchise has been in existence since 1920 and has never had a quarterback throw for 4,000 yards in a season — the only NFL team without one. To put that in perspective, 10 quarterbacks did that last year.
The Bears last reached the Super Bowl in 2006, falling to the Indianapolis Colts, and they have made the postseason just three times since. They are 10-24 over the last two years.
Chicago got the chance to take Williams in what could go down as one of the most lopsided trades in NFL history. Ahead of last year's draft, the Bears dealt the No. 1 pick to the Carolina Panthers (which turned out to be Alabama quarterback Bryce Young). In exchange, they got wideout D.J. Moore, 2023 first- and second-round picks, a 2024 first-round pick and a 2025 second-round pick.
The Panthers finished with a league-worst 2-15 record last season, making that 2024 first-rounder the most coveted pick possible Thursday night.
Make no mistake about it, Williams is being counted on to help turn the franchise around. Fortunately (and unlike most No. 1 picks), he won’t be alone in that endeavor. The Bears traded for six-time Pro Bowl receiver Keenan Allen and signed running back D’Andre Swift in free agency this offseason. He’ll also be able to throw the ball to rising stars in receiver D.J. Moore and tight end Cole Kmet.
Williams’ friend Jeff Martin said he has stressed to Williams the importance of not thinking too far into the future.
“I just want him to enjoy it as much as possible, because I know how much he’s looking forward to the work. But you only do this one time,” he said. “We want to emphasize being present and just enjoy where he’s at, because he’s going to put the work in regardless.”
Williams said he began to realize this moment — walking across the stage as the top selection — when he was only 12 years old.
“At that point, I was a bit naive,” he told the "TODAY" show. “I didn’t really know what it was and what came with it. But I believed it then. And then I got to high school, I got a couple offers, and then I got to college and started having fun balling out. And then it’s actually becoming a reality. Being here, being at the draft, possibly going No. 1? It’s crazy.”
