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The Chicago Bears hit two home runs in the first nine picks of the NFL draft on Thursday night, April 25, leaving one of the league’s best defenders in Micah Parsons beyond impressed with what the franchise accomplished.
Parsons, a three-time All-Pro linebacker for the Dallas Cowboys, co-hosted Bleacher Report Gridiron’s Draft Night Special alongside Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud, the league’s Rookie of the Year in 2023 and the second overall pick last season. The Bears selected quarterback Caleb Williams out of USC with the first selection of the night then drafted wide receiver Rome Odunze eight picks later at No. 9, after which Parsons offered Chicago’s front office and offensive some effusive praise.
“They’re making it almost impossible for [Williams] to fail,” Parsons said appoximately an hour and a half into the broadcast. “They’re saying, ‘We’re giving you every weapon. We signed the running back. We traded for the receivers.’ And it gets them the reset. Whether [Keenan Allen] is only gonna do one year or two years, they know they have a guy that can replace him, and that’s Rome Odunze.”
Parsons went on to compare the Bears’ offense to that of the 2022 Philadelphia Eagles that went all the way to the Super Bowl, where they lost narrowly to the Kansas City Chiefs by a score of 38-35.
Bears Create Among Best WR Groups in NFL After Drafting Rome Odunze, Trading for Keenan Allen
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GettyWide receiver Rome Odunze of the Chicago Bears.
The Bears traded a fourth-rounder to the Los Angeles Chargers for Allen this offseason, after picking up DJ Moore and the pick that became Williams in this year’s draft by sending the Carolina Panthers the No. 1 selection in 2023.
Now, after drafting Odunze, Courtney Cronin of ESPN is making the case for Chicago’s trio of receivers as one of the best in the league.
“It’s hard to argue that the Bears don’t have one of the league’s best wide receiver trios between DJ Moore, who put up a career-best 1,364 yards last season (sixth in the NFL), Keenan Allen, whose 1,243 yards were his second most in 11 seasons, and Rome Ozunde, who led college football with 1,640 receiving yards,” Cronin wrote on Thursday. “Chicago’s passing offense should make major strides under new offensive coordinator Shane Waldron with the amount of talented pass-catchers at his disposal, which was set up to help Caleb Williams achieve early success as a rookie.”
The Bears also have Cole Kmet at tight end and signed Pro Bowl running back D’Andre Swift in free agency back in March.
Caleb Williams Has Chance to Succeed Where Almost Every Other Bears QB Has Failed
GettyQuarterback Caleb Williams of the Chicago Bears.
A group of skill-position players with that level of talent will undoubtedly help Williams succeed as a rookie, though Parsons’ assertion that failure for the QB in Chicago is “almost impossible” remains a shocking one, if only because of the franchise’s 100-plus-year history of underwhelming play at what has become the sport’s most important position.
That history includes a three-year run with Justin Fields (10-28), the team’s last first-round pick (No. 11 overall in 2021), and eight years with Jay Cutler (51-51) after the team sent the Denver Broncos multiple first-round picks in a trade for the QB in 2009.
Chicago has claimed just one championship in the Super Bowl era, doing so following the 1985 season with another former first-round QB in Jim McMahon. Aside from McMahon and Fields, the Bears have drafted four other quarterbacks in the first round: Mitch Trubisky (2017), Rex Grossman (2003), Cade McNown (1999) and Jim Harbaugh (1987).
Odds suggest that the Bears will eventually land an elite QB, and Parsons is correct in suggesting that Williams has as good of a chance as any, if not a better one, due to his talent and the talent Chicago has built into the roster around him.
That said, it’s too early to make any definitive predictions on what the Bears can be with Williams under center, and continuing to develop and add players to the offensive line will be paramount to the success of both the team and its quarterback in the years to come.
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