Head coach Matt Eberflus of the Chicago Bears speaks to the media during the NFL Combine at the Indiana Convention Center on February 27, 2024 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
Caleb Williams appears to have made a strong impression on more than just the Chicago Bears general manager.
On the second day of the NFL’s annual league meetings in Florida, Bears head coach Matt Eberflus raved about Williams after spending extensive time with him last week. The Bears’ brass — including Eberflus — spent two days with him in Los Angeles ahead of USC’s pro day on March 20 and then stayed a third to watch him throw in person.
“It was great,” Eberflus told reporters in a roundtable on March 25. “The biggest takeaway is you can see the arm talent on the film, and you can see it there in person.”
While Williams’ arm might have been the biggest on-field takeaway, though, Eberflus walked away more impressed with how the young quarterback carried himself around his USC teammates. The Bears spoke to dozens of them during their evaluation process and even treated Williams and his draft-eligible teammates to dinner two nights earlier.
“What I loved to see was the interaction with the other players,” Eberflus said of the dinner. “You can see that, and we talked to every person that was on that team. At the Senior Bowl, we interviewed them and interviewed them at the pro day. We talked to those guys at the dinner, and you can certainly see those players love him and respect him and what he’s brought to that program.”
Seems as though Williams is passing the culture check with flying colors thus far.
Bears Plan to Test Caleb Williams on Offense on Visit
The Bears have put substantial work into evaluating whether Williams is a fit to be their new franchise quarterback over the past few months, but the next — and possibly final — step in the process is for them to bring him to Halas Hall for his official top-30 visit.
General manager Ryan Poles confirmed at the annual league meetings that Williams’ visit will take place during the first week of April. During the visit, the Bears will need to conduct their physical and medical examinations of him since Williams opted not to do any medical testing at the 2024 NFL Combine. They will also take the opportunity to introduce him to the members of the offensive staff who did not make the trip to L.A.
Additionally, Eberflus said the Bears are going to test Williams on his knowledge of their offense based on the concepts they taught him during their visits last week.
“We’ll just continue on some of the install that we installed there in the pro day,” Eberflus said Tuesday. “We’ll just keep continuing on that journey, teaching him more of the offense and then having him giving it back to us and seeing where he’s at that way. And he’s been great that way. … It’s going to be good.”
Matt Eberflus Confident Bears Can Get ‘Blue’ Player at No. 9
Williams has undoubtedly become the heavy favorite to land in Chicago at No. 1 overall in the draft, but more mystery has surrounded the Bears’ second first-round choice.
The Bears also hold the No. 9 overall pick and have a few specific spots where they could look to add talent. A left tackle or wide receiver could tempt them on the offensive side, but there are also strong cases for them to add an edge rusher or defensive tackle.
“Obviously, having the No. 9 pick is a really good spot to be in. It’s right there at the top and we’re going to get a blue player there for sure. And what we’ve done in free agency allows us to be flexible there, to be able to really take the best player that we feel fits for us at that spot. So breaking up into pods or teams, and that’s an exciting time because
A “blue” player refers to what Poles’ front office considers to be a premier first-round talent. Eberflus explained they break the prospects into positional categories — or “pods” — and then comprehensively rank them based on who can help the most, a process that the front office will do in the upcoming weeks as the draft draws nearer.
For Eberflus, it comes down to two main factors.
“It’s all to me about affecting the quarterback or helping the quarterback,” he said.