Williams goes No. 1 in QB-crazy first round
DETROIT — Caleb Williams swiftly walked on stage, looked out and screamed “Woooo! Yeah!”
Long-suffering Bears fans felt his joy.
Williams is heading to the Windy City, aiming to become the franchise quarterback Chicago has sought for decades.
“My goal is to get into as far as February as I can,” Williams said, referring to playing in a Super Bowl for a team that hasn’t hoisted the Lombardi Trophy in nearly 40 years.
The 2022 Heisman Trophy winner kicked off an historic NFL draft Thursday night that had five other teams selecting quarterbacks among the top 12 picks, setting a record with five in the top 10 and tying a record for the most in the first round.
Nearly the entire first half of the draft was offensive players.
A defensive player wasn’t selected until UCLA edge rusher Laiatu Latu went at No. 15 to Indianapolis. That’s the latest a first defensive player has ever gone.
The Bears opened with the easy choice, taking Williams at No. 1 after deciding weeks ago to bank on the 2022 Heisman Trophy winner from Southern Cal.
“Care, love and support and want to win,” Williams said about what he’s bringing to Chicago.
The Washington Commanders followed up by taking 2023 Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels from LSU and the New England Patriots took North Carolina’s Drake Maye at No. 3, making it the fourth draft with quarterbacks going with the first three picks.
At No. 8, the Atlanta Falcons made a stunning decision to choose Washington
QB Michael Penix Jr. despite signing Kirk Cousins to a massive contract in free agency. The Minnesota Vikings traded up one spot and took J.J. McCarthy, who led Michigan to a national championship, to make it five QBs in the top 10 for the first time.
The Denver Broncos chose Oregon’s Bo Nix with the 12th pick, tying the 1983 draft with six QBs in the first round. Three of those became Hall of Famers — John Elway, Dan Marino and Jim Kelly.
The Arizona Cardinals snapped the early QB trend, choosing Ohio State wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. with the fourth pick. The Los Angeles Chargers opened the Jim Harbaugh era by taking Notre Dame offensive tackle Joe Alt instead of giving Justin Herbert a No. 1 wide receiver to replace Keenan Allen and Mike Williams.
Previously, the latest a first defensive player was selected was No. 8.
An estimated crowd of 275,000, many wearing their Honolulu blue Lions jerseys, filled the streets surrounding the draft theater and turned the NFL’s biggest offseason event into a giant party.
They roared when the Lions moved up five spots in a trade with Dallas and took Alabama cornerback Terrion Arnold with the 24th pick.
The 22-year-old Williams is the third quarterback Chicago has selected in the first round in the past eight years, joining Mitch Trubisky and Justin Fields. They passed up on Bryce Young and C.J. Stroud last year and traded the No. 1 pick to Carolina in a blockbuster deal only to get the top choice this year after the Panthers went 2-15.
Williams shouted “Da Bears!” to finish his first news conference as a pro.