Bears Draft Grades: Caleb Williams Provides What Justin Fields Didn't

The Round 1 Bears draft grade was going to be high when you get the top passer and one of the top receivers but they have a QB who gives them what their last one did not.

Caleb Williams and Co. do a selfie at the first round of the 89th NFL Draft. / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Grading the first round of the Bears draft is like grading an open-book test.

It's going to be a high mark. They have a cheat sheet of sorts considering they had the first pick and everyone knew they were selecting the best player at a need position.

The mystery part of their first round was the pick at No. 9.

The phone rang for them, and they rang some other phones as it was coming to that pick, mainly because GM Ryan Poles didn't know if the player they were hoping would be there would come off the board. This was receiver Rome Odunze.

"Yeah there was a bunch of calls," Poles said. "We made calls. I think that's just kind of standard practice.

"Everyone is just kind of getting a feel for where everybody is at. But nothing like, freaky."

When it all went down and Odunze was there, Poles could rest at ease. He had been feeling the tension.

It's difficult to give them anything other than an A+ for these picks and here's why.

Bears Round 1 Grade: A+

No. 1 QB Caleb Williams, USC

Two picks in one round rates high, as does getting the first pick in any round. Williams long has been the consensus No. 1 around the league.

In fact, Poles said he started watching Williams very early in his career, as a freshman at Oklahoma when he came on for ineffective Spencer Rattler and led a comeback win over Texas.

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"I was watching that Texas-Oklahoma game for sure and was like, 'who was this kid?' " Poles said. "Some of those throws were ridiculous.

"Then you kind of track players as you go along and (while) watching (scouting Jordan) Addison, what was it, last year, two years ago? You saw the talent."

Williams has ability at a level they haven't had in any passer they have drafted.

"We oftentimes look at things that you can coach and you can't coach," Poles said. "When you have the things you can't coach and we can develop the other parts of it, you feel good about it.

"He's got special instincts, awareness, especially in the pocket to manipulate the pocket, get in and out of the pocket, spatial, a feel for space is special. That’s his special sauce. Then once we kind of speed things up and start to identify different coverages and there's an adjustment to an NFL offense that he's got to go through as well. So we're really excited to work with the tools he has."

Bears quarterbacks in the past who failed were never regarded as the best in a given draft. Mitchell Trubisky was considered this by former GM Ryan Pace, but few others thought this of the North Carolina QB.

Williams has the arm, the quick release, and three years of starting experience, which neither Trubisky nor Justin Fields had.

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It was ironic, but ESPN analyst Greg McElroy expressed the thought Williams had never experienced adversity as a QB but this was exactly one key quality the Bears saw in him. USC had one of the worst defenses in Power 5 conferences and he had to carry them around week after week for a winning record.

"We had conversations about that, and I think that's the best thing that could've happened to him, because you're going to have that in the NFL," Poles said. "You're going to have the down weeks, months and you're going to have to find a way to get through them. You're going to have to tap into different resources to get through them and get back to playing at a high standard.

"So I think going through that adversity helped him to really find that edge, but also recover when things don't go well."

They saw something in Williams they obviously didn't have in Justin Fields. The Bears lost 15 times in Fields' three seasons in games they were within a touchdown and two-point conversion. They won three times in tight games he or they pulled out at the end. They had two other games they lost by more than eight points when they were within a TD and gave the ball away at game's end, padding their opponent's lead to more than a touchdown.

"Yeah, you look for poise, guys that the game kinda slows down for them in those critical moments, that they're capable of making those special throws when you need them the most," Poles said. "Especially down the stretch, that clutch part is really, really, really good, and you need that to win games.

"For how many close games we have in this league, you've gotta have guys who can finish, especially in two-minute drills and things like that."

No. 9 WR Rome Odunze, Washington

The only predraft knock on Odunze as a classical tall, high-pointing receiver is he needs to improve route running.

Every single receiver who comes into the league can say that.

Odunze was the lead receiver in a well-stocked receiver group and led the country in yards.

Poles said they ran mocks in predraft and in simulations based on teams' needs in the first eight, they only had a 50-50 chance of landing Odunze.

"But as it started to unfold, Ian (Cunningham, assistant GM) had to hold me back to not trade up and do something crazy to get him," Poles said. "But it ended up working out really well."

The closer mentality they saw in Williams, they also saw in Odunze.

"I mean, the kid's just put time in and he got better and better every single year and he's a winner," Poles said. "He can impact the game at any moment. If you're at quarterback, and you're in doubt, you want to just go give a guy an opportunity to go finish, he's your guy. He's done that consistently."

Odunze's ability to play all positions works well in this offensive system and also with the other personnel because the same can be said for DJ Moore and Keenan Allen. He checks off the intangible boxes where other receivers available later in the draft failed.

"First of all, a human being, what a great guy," Poles said. "Work ethic, just blue collar in the way he goes about things. But as a receiver, he can line anywhere, inside outside. You love his ability to finish in contested situations.

"Plays strong, plays big, run after catch is very good. He's a punt returner as well."

It might be a chance for the Bears to finally iron out their punt return issues, and it's going to be awfully tough now for Velus Jones to make the roster.

The Bears get negatives for not addressing edge rusher or 3-technique, two defensive positions where they need obvious help. They'll need to look for it Friday and Saturday.

This isn't necessarily a bad thing, though.

When the draft starts with 14 consecutive offensive players taken and the Bears weren't the ones to reach and take someone who wound up the middle of Round 1, they've succeeded in sticking to their draft board.

When six quarterbacks went in the first 12 picks and they have the one scouts from the great majority of teams have said is best, then they've won the first round.

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