Analyst Says Bears Likely Land Caleb Williams If This Happens

It's already Caleb Williams season for the Chicago Bears. Or at least it feels that way. Hopes were high when the team opened 2023 at home against Green Bay. Three weeks later, they're 0-3, with each defeat looking worse than the last. Justin Fields looks lost. He sounds like a young man devoid of confidence and hope. Try as he might, he's falling into the same category as many other Bears quarterbacks: not good enough. With as bad as the Bears have looked, many are penciling them in for the #1 overall pick again in 2024.

That is where the Williams conversation comes in. Many feel the USC quarterback is the heavy favorite to be the top pick in next year's draft. His arm strength, accuracy, poise, and playmaking skills are amazing to behold. Of course, it is unwise to presume the Bears already have the pick in hand. There are 14 games left to play. That said, one insider believes their odds are about to grow significantly. Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports did some research. He thinks the results this Sunday will ultimately determine the Bears' fate.

Here's how.

"Thanks to a scheduling coincidence that rarely happens, all of the league’s four remaining winless teams will collide with another member of their unfortunate fraternity — sending the Broncos on the road to face the Bears, and pitting the Vikings against the Panthers in Carolina. Barring a tie, two of these franchises will exit Week 4 with an 0-4 start. Typically we focus that record through the 1992 San Diego Chargers, who remain the only Super Bowl-era franchise to start 0-4 and make the playoffs. Rarely do we crunch the numbers in the opposite direction. Such as, how often an 0-4 team ends up with the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft.

15 times (roughly 71.4 percent), the No. 1 overall pick was landed by a team that started the season 0-4.

four times (19 percent), the top pick went to a team that started 1-3.

two times (9.5 percent), the first overall pick went to a team that started 2-2.

While those figures might not sound like a total lock for 0-4 teams, it’s worth noting that five of the past seven years, the top pick has gone to a team starting the season 0-4. And at one point in the past 21 years, 10 straight drafts (from 2003 to 2012) featured an 0-4 team eventually landing the No. 1 overall pick."

Losing to Denver sets Bears on a path to Caleb Williams.

This is probably the "easiest" opponent they will face all year. The Broncos defense is the worst in football, having just surrendered 70 points in Miami. It's at home. This game can be and should be won. There are no excuses. So if they do, it will be an inescapable sign that this team is going nowhere. Forget competing for a respectable record. They can't even beat other bad teams. The futures of Fields and Eberflus will be largely decided by that point. Neither will be likely to survive into 2024.

Caleb Williams isn't guaranteed success in the NFL. No quarterback is. The only thing certain is that his odds are better than many recent prospects. It would fall on the Bears to build a situation around him that will help him grow. That means more firepower, better protection, and above all, a head coach who understands how to develop the quarterback position. Many jaded fans already believe they will screw it up somehow. That is fair. Still, the odds could be in their favor after Sunday.