Williams’ jersey sets draft record
Chicago Bears fans seem pretty excited to have former USC quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Caleb
Williams on the team. How excited are they? Based on draft-night jersey sales data, possibly more excited than any fan base of any sports team has ever been about any draft pick.
The Bears selected Williams with the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft Thursday. By the end of the night, Williams’ jersey had broken the Fanatics record for draft-night sales set last week by basketball phenomenon Caitlin Clark. Before Clark, quarterback Trevor
Lawrence had the most draft-night jersey sales after he was selected No. 1 by Jacksonville in 2021.
Williams wore No. 13 in college, however that number is worn by new teammate Keenan Allen, the veteran receiver the Bears acquired from the Chargers this offseason, so Williams will wear No. 18, his high school number.
Williams gives USC a record sixth No. 1 pick in the
NFL draft, joining Ron Yary (1968), O.J. Simpson (1969), Ricky Bell (1977), Keyshawn Johnson (1996) and Carson Palmer (2003), and Lincoln Riley his third No. 1 pick, tying Georgia’s Wally Butts with the most for any coach.
The Bears are looking for their first winning season since 2018 and their first playoff win since 2010. Williams is the third quarterback they’ve drafted in the first round in the last eight years, following Mitch Trubisky at No. 2 in 2017 and Justin Fields at No. 11 in 2021.
The expectations are clear: Become the franchise quarterback the Bears have craved for years and lift the founding NFL franchise to the top. Other than that, there’s no pressure at all.
“I don’t think of it that way,” Williams said Thursday night. “That may be the narrative. For me, I handle my job.”
The Bears are the only team not to have someone throw for 4,000 yards in a season. Now they need Williams to develop in ways Fields and Trubisky didn’t.
“You look into it and you wonder why,” Williams said. “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.”
Williams kicked off an historic draft that featured five other teams selecting quarterbacks among the top 12 picks, setting a record with five in the top 10 and tying the opening-round record of that historic 1983 draft that included future Hall of Famers John Elway, Jim Kelly and Dan Marino.
Williams has the arm strength and ability to avoid defenders, to extend plays and make throws on the run. He’s also strong in the pocket, an area where Fields struggled, and he’ll have no shortage of targets. They include two productive tight ends in Cole Kmet and newcomer Gerald Everett.
“One, the infrastructure has to be there and I think we’ve done that part to have the talent around our quarterback now,” general manager Ryan Poles said. “I think the other thing is our entire organization is going to have to be on the same page on how we handle this, how we develop Caleb.”
Williams is the third player drafted by the Bears with the No. 1 pick. The other two were half backs — Michigan’s Tom Harmon in 1941 and Oklahoma A&M’s Bob Fenimore in 1947.
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