The Chicago Bears have insisted up and down that no one thing led to the decision to draft Caleb Williams #1 overall. They did so much homework on the USC quarterback over a span of months. They studied every inch of his game film and met with coaches, teammates, friends, and family members to get an idea of his personality. After meeting with Williams himself, the Bears knew they had the right guy. In late April of 2024, they made it official by calling his name in Detroit.
However, it turns out there was a singular catalyst that put the Bears on this path. Dan Wiederer of the Chicago Tribune found this out from assistant GM Ian Cunningham. According to him, Bears scout Francis St. Paul decided, rather than going through a lengthy report of why the kid was the real deal, he decided to show GM Ryan Poles and everybody else. All he needed was one play. It wasn’t from Williams’ final year at USC or his Heisman run in 2022.
In a passionate predraft video presentation at Halas Hall, St. Paul called up footage of Williams’ second career start as a true freshman at Oklahoma. Two weeks after Williams had come off the bench to author a wild, come-from-behind victory over rival Texas in the Red River Showdown, the third-ranked Sooners were clinging to a 28-23 lead at Kansas and facing a fourth-and-1 near midfield with a little more than three minutes remaining.
A running play was called to Oklahoma tailback Kennedy Brooks. But, as Brooks was stuffed by two Jayhawks defenders well short of the line to gain, Williams darted in, tore the ball from Brooks’ hands and pushed ahead for a gain of 5. St. Paul wanted everyone to take note of Williams’ instincts, his situational awareness, his winning mentality.
(Oklahoma finished the possession with a win-sealing touchdown in the final minute.)
“That, for us, was it,” Cunningham said. “It was great. That was a really good job by Francis of not just telling us but showing us that this is a kid who since his true freshman year knew the moment and he wanted the ball in his hands in big-time situations.”
A lot of people don’t talk about that with premier athletes enough. It’s one thing to know that a certain possession is important. It is another to recognize what is happening in the rapid seconds during a sequence, make a snap decision, and act before it’s too late. Almost no player, never mind quarterback, would’ve had the presence of mind to realize the running back was getting stuffed and gone for the strip. They would have let the play unfold in despair, allowing Kansas to get the stop and the ball back.
Caleb Williams refused to allow that. Not only did he get the first down, but he added another 30 yards on quarterback runs later in the drive. Oklahoma scored to put the game out of reach. All of it was because of him. That is the type of carrying job the Bears were looking for. They don’t want a quarterback they can win with. They want one they win because of. If he was doing stuff like that as a freshman, just imagine what he will accomplish as he continues to mature.
