The Chicago Bears haven’t made their intentions clear for the 2024 draft yet. That is hardly surprising. Seven games remain in the regular season. They have no idea where they will end up picking next April. As of now, they hold the #1 pick in the draft courtesy of the trade with Carolina. If that status holds, many wonder if GM Ryan Poles will decide to make a change at quarterback. Most see it as a race between two big names. USC’s Caleb Williams and North Carolina’s Drake Maye. A large sect of fans hold out hope Justin Fields will keep the job, but recent rumblings suggest Poles is prepared to move on.
The debate between Williams and Maye remains hot and isn’t likely to fade for the next several months. Both have plenty of merit to go #1 overall. Williams has racked up ridiculous numbers for the past three seasons, showcasing his improvisational wizardry. Maye is a physical specimen with all the tools a franchise QB requires, and he’s also showcasing a clutch gene. It isn’t easy to separate the two. Bears insider Adam Jahns of The Athletic may have found one.
“One major difference at North Carolina is that Maye is surrounded by NFL experience. Clyde Christensen is a volunteer assistant. He coached Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck. Christensen’s involvement is viewed as a positive by evaluators. He had a conversation with Maye on the sideline after halftime.
Freddie Kitchens, the former Browns offensive coordinator and head coach, is North Carolina’s run game coordinator and tight ends coach.”
Prior to becoming a senior advisor to head coach Mack Brown at North Carolina, he’d spent 16 years as an NFL scout. He was with the Chargers when they drafted Philip Rivers. Kitchens gets derided for his tenure as a head coach in Cleveland, but he got the best season from Baker Mayfield and helped resurrect Carson Palmer’s career in Arizona. This doesn’t even include Brown himself, who put Vince Young, Colt McCoy, and Sam Howell into the NFL. All have had productive stretches over their careers.
This is the core issue for many Bears fans. They can only see the North Carolina uniform and the #10 on his jersey. Immediately, they get flashbacks of the former #2 overall pick in 2017 and how he ended up flopping. In these situations, it’s important to remember one thing—Scout the player, not the helmet. Look at C.J. Stroud. He’s also an Ohio State quarterback like Justin Fields, but he’s tearing the league up. Just because Trubisky didn’t work out doesn’t mean Maye won’t. He’s a better physical talent, for one. For another, he’s also more experienced. Trubisky started 13 games in college. Maye has started 24.
Throw in the fact that he’s being molded by men who understand what is expected in the NFL, and it’s getting easier to understand why the appeal is growing. Drake Maye has done everything asked of him over the past few months. He’s winning games, playing the position the right way, making consistently on-time and accurate throws, and staying out of trouble. He might not be the once-in-a-generation player any team would want, but the signs point to him having a bright future on Sundays.
