At the risk of sounding like a Star Wars opening crawl, Chicago sports is in crisis.
In the 2020s—a decade already half over—the Windy City’s five Big Four sports clubs have combined for six postseason appearances. Four of these occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020; the Chicago Sky’s 2021 WNBA championship has been the city’s one redeeming grace.
This offseason, the Chicago Bears, who own the first pick in the NFL draft, must make a possibly franchise-altering decision. Everyone in Chicago has an opinion on whether the Bears should stick with quarterback Justin Fields or choose a new signal-caller, such as USC quarterback Caleb Williams.
Brian Urlacher, a Hall of Fame former Chicago linebacker, chimed in on Friday’s debate.
“I think at this time, if people are still asking if Justin is the person, he probably isn’t,” Urlacher told Ari Meirov of The 33rd Team. “Right? Three years later, they’re still asking, “Hey, is he going to be our guy?”
In 40 career games, Fields has thrown 40 touchdown passes and 30 interceptions. He has failed to lead the Bears to the postseason, where they have not appeared since 2020.
“Caleb Williams, who was a fairly excellent player in college, is also sitting there,” Urlacher said. “In my perspective, they probably need to draft a kid.”
Albert Breer of SI.com, Brad Biggs of the Tribune, Adam Schefter, Jeremy Fowler, and Matt Miller of ESPN, and Tom Peliserro and Daniel Jeremiah of the NFL Network all said the same thing.
These are just their opinions, but they are well-qualified to make such a remark.
It is not unanimous. In fact, the most recent news of Kliff Kingsbury moving to the Commanders, which is near where Williams attended high school in the Washington, DC area, appears to have surprised the least convinced. According to the NFL Mock Draft Database, just 78% of mock drafts currently have Williams as the Bears’ No. 1 choice. This is a roughly 11% decrease from the previous week.
Nothing significant has changed in the draft picture since last week, save for Kingsbury’s move, who required a job regardless of club or city and ended up in Washington.
Williams’ obvious contributions to a squad include a strong, accurate arm with a quick delivery and the ability to throw to space or anticipate targets coming open. He rushes to pass, and carrying it downfield is his last resort weapon.
The salary cap benefit has been extensively discussed, yet it cannot be refuted. The so-called reset ensures that the Bears will not have to pay for a quarterback for at least three years. There is no way the Justin Fields supporters can compensate for Williams’ hidden advantage over the current Bears starter, even if Fields does give them one more year at a reduced pay.
