History says Caleb Williams will take the Bears to the playoffs

On this episode of Football Night in Chicago, former Bears front office executive Josh Lucas joins Mark Carman to talk about the Bears’ private dinner with Caleb Williams, their options for the ninth-overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, the playoff success of QBs drafted first-overall and more.

#ChicagoBears #CalebWIlliams #playoffs

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History says Caleb Williams will take the Bears to the playoffs
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>>> WELCOME BACK TO FOOTBALL NIGHT IN CHICAGO . WITH US NOW, OUR FRONT OFFICE INSIDER, @#JOS LUCAS. LET’S FORGET THE ON FIELD STUFF. CALEB LOOKED GREAT YESTERDAY. YOU WERE AT THE FAMOUS MEETING, ROLLED IN WITH THE CAMRY AND HAD THE JIM McMAHON

RESERVATION, TRYING TO GET TO KNOW A GUY. WHAT DO YOU THINK THE BEARS WANTED TO KNOW WHEN @# THEY WERE SITTING DOWN WITH HIM, HANGING OUT WITH HIS TEAMMATES AND TRYING TO GET TO KNOW THIS GUY? WHAT WERE YOU TRYING TO FIND OUT?

>> TALKING ABOUT AN HOUR TO TWO HOURS DINNER. YOU REALLY WANT TO KNOW, CAN THIS GUY BE A LEADER OF MEN? CAN THIS GUY BE THE CEO OF THE CHICAGO BEARS? IF HE EMBRACES IT IN ANY WAY, IF @#YOU GET THE FEELING THAT H

MIGHT NOT MESH WITH HIS TEAMMATES BECAUSE HE IS SO INTO HIMSELF, HE IS SO SELF ABSORBED, THAT IS PROBABLY THE NUMBER ONE THING YOU ARE TRYING TO GET THE FEEL AT DINNER. YOU WILL HAVE TIME TO WATCH FILM WITH HIM TO SEE HOW HE

PROCESSES THE @#TAPE, HOW HE EXPLAINS HIS OWN OFFENSE. YOU WILL HAVE THAT TIME ANOTHER SESSIONS. THE DINNER IS ABOUT PERSONALITY. DOES HE FIT IN THIS LOCKER ROOM? DOES HE HAVE THE CHARACTERISTICS, PERSONALITY WISE OF THE CHICAGO BEARS?

FOR A QUARTERBACK, CAN THIS GUY BE THE LEADER OF ALL 52 @#GUYS THE LOCKER ROOM? >> YOU ARE PICKING APART EVERY LITTLE THING. ARE YOU TRYING TO TRIP HIM UP WHEN GOING THROUGH THAT STUFF? ARE YOU TRYING TO TRIED TO

THROW HIM SOMETHING OR ARE YOU MORE TRYING TO HAVE @#AN EASY CONVERSATION? >> I HAVE SEEN BOTH ENDS. I HAVE SEEN GUYS WHO GIVE SOFTBALL QUESTIONS THROUGHOUT AND IT IS REALLY A CONVERSATION WITH HOW WELL THE PLAYER CAN TAKE @#YOUR THROUGH HIS OWN

OFFENSE, WHERE THE PRIMARY READS ARE, WHERE HE IS SUPPOSED TO GO WITH THE BALL, WHAT HAPPENS ON THE PLAY AND THEN I HAVE SEEN SOME COACHES WHERE THEY REALLY WANT TO PUT YOU UNDER THE MICROSCOPE AND TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE AND THROW SOME

QUESTIONS THAT YOU THAT ARE EXTREMELY CHALLENGING. IT ALL DEPENDS ON THE COORDINATOR AND THE COACH. I HAVE SEEN IT DONE @#BOTH WAYS I LIKE TO SEE IT WHERE IT IS A LITTLE INTENSE, ESPECIALLY AT THAT POSITION. THAT IS WHAT THAT POSITION IS ABOUT.

IT IS ABOUT RECOVERING AT THE PLAY.@# LOOK HOW IT RESPONDS. >> LET’S GO BACK TO JUSTIN. NOW WE ARE HEARING, WHERE DO YOU THINK THE ORGANIZATION FAILED JUSTIN, IF AT ALL? >> I WOULD SAY THIS FOUR YEAR EXPERIENCE WITH JUSTIN, THERE @#

ARE FAILURES ON BOTH SIDES. LET’S TALK ABOUT JUSTIN FIRST. WHY IS HE VIEWED AS A BACKUP QUARTERBACK? TWO MINUTE, THIRD DOWN, FOURTH QUARTER TURNOVER,@# PRESSURE SITUATION, PLAYING ON TIME, TOO MUCH HOLDING ONTO THE BALL. THERE IS DURABILITY ISSUES THAT GO WITH IT.

IF I WERE TO SAY THE ORGANIZATION HAD ANYTHING TO DO# , WITH WHY HE IS STILL NOT A QUARTERBACK FOR THE CHICAGO BEARS, IN 2021, WE WERE IN A UNIQUE SITUATION. WE PRETTY MUCH HAD TO TAKE THE QUARTERBACK. WE DID NOT HAVE THE

INFRASTRUCTURE ON OFFENSE TO SUPPORT A ROOKIE QUARTERBACK AND WE REALLY, REALLY WANTED ANDY DALTON TO PLAY THAT ENTIRE YEAR. WE HAD OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR IN# BILL LASER WHO HAD TO HAVE A LOT OF SUCCESS WITH ANDY IN CINCINNATI. HE WAS COMFORTABLE WITH ANDY.

WE WERE NOT VERY GOOD UPFRONT. WE NEEDED SOMEONE TO GET THE BALL OUT QUICK. AND WEAK TWO, ANDY GETS HURT. JUSTIN GOES IN. IF THERE IS ONE THING I CAN POINT TO, WE FAILED HIM IN CLEVELAND THAT @#NEXT WEEK.

IT WAS ONE OF THE WORST DAYS OF MY NFL CAREER, SITTING IN THE PRESS BOX IN CLEVELAND, WATCHING THAT GAME. THAT CAN BE HARD TO COVER — RECOVER. WE HAD TO PLAN A LITTLE BIT. WE DID THEM NO FAVORS IN THE @# CLEVELAND GAME.

HE WAS A TWO YEAR STARTER WHERE WE REALLY THOUGHT WE WOULD SIT THE ENTIRE YEAR. THE TWO YEARS IN THE NFL, HE DID NOT HAVE @#ENOUGH AROUND HI LAST YEAR, I THOUGHT THERE WAS ENOUGH AROUND HIM FOR HIM TO BE BETTER OFF OFFENSIVELY.

HE IS A BIG REASON WHY THEY WEREN’T. >> THE BEARS ARE TRYING TO BUILD INFRASTRUCTURE. IF IT IS YOU, ARE YOU TAKING THE BEST PLAYER AVAILABLE? ARE YOU LOOKING FOR THE BEST TRADE BACK? >> YOU HAVE THREE SCENARIOS.

THEY DON’T HAVE A LOT OF PICKS LEFT BECAUSE THEY HAVE @#BEEN AGGRESSIVE. IS THERE A SCENARIO WHERE WE CAN GO BACK TO A SPOT WHERE WE STILL HAVE A LOT OF CONVICTION? WE CAN GET A GUY TO REALLY HELP

US AND HELP US GET SOME MORE LATER ROUND PICKS? DO WE GO WITH A WIDE RECEIVER WHO COULD POTENTIALLY BE THERE TO GIVE @#A ROOKIE QUARTERBACK HELLUVA STARTING THREE? THERE IS A POTENTIAL TO BE A VERY TALENTED WIDE RECEIVER.

NOT ONLY AT NINE, BUT TO GO BACK. TO ME, RIGHT NOW, THEY STILL ONLY HAVE ONE TRUE PASS RUSHER ON THE TEAM. WITH THE QUARTERBACK @#BELOW, FOUR GOING BEFORE THEM, A COUPLE OF RECEIVERS. YOU ARE GOING TO BE STARING AT

YOUR TOP ONE TO THREE GREATEST PLAYERS IN THE ENTIRE DRAFT AND A COUPLE OF THOSE GUYS CAN GET AFTER THE PASSER. LOOK @#AT LAST YEAR, THE LAST 1 GAMES. THEY PLAYED FOUR, WHAT I WOULD CALL FOUR QUARTERBACKS THAT WERE A SOLID STARTER OR BETTER.

THEY PLAYED DEREK CARR — I AM BEING GENEROUS. THEY @#PLAYED GOLF — GOFF TWIC I CAN’T REMEMBER. THERE WERE FIVE IN TOTAL. IF YOU LOOK AT THOSE GAMES, THEY WENT 1 IN FOUR. IN THE FOUR THEY LOST, THEY HAD

A TOTAL OF THREE SACKS. IN THE GAME THEY WON AGAINST @# JARED GOFF AND DETROIT — NO, IN CHICAGO, THEY HAD FOUR SAXON THAT GAME. IT IS ALL ABOUT GETTING PRESSURE. IF YOU CAN TAKE A GUY AT NINE WHO CAN RUSH THE QUARTERBACK,

WHETHER IT IS FROM THE INTERIOR OR THE OUTSIDE, TO ME, THAT WOULD BE HARD TO PASS @#UP. >> DO YOU HAVE SOMEBODY ELSE IN MIND? >> DALLAS TURNER OBVIOUSLY IS PROBABLY THE MOST UPSIDE, THE SAFEST PICK IF YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT A DEFENSIVE END.@#

A CONSISTENT — HE IS EASY TO PROJECT. HE DOES NOT HAVE THE ATHLETICISM AND THE VERSATILITY OF TURNER OF ALABAMA BUT HE FITS THE BEARS AND THEN THE DEEP TACKLE OUT OF TEXAS, MIGHT BE A LITTLE RISKY BUT HE CAN PLAY.

HE IS THE THREE TECHNIQUE THAT THEY REALLY, REALLY @#COULD USE >> I SEE THE SMILE ON YOUR FACE. >> SHOULD THE BEARS, IF THE DRAFT GOES IN A POSITIVE WAY, SHOULD THEY BE A PLAYOFF TEAM NEXT YEAR IN YOUR MIND?

>> SHOULD THEY BE A PLAYOFF TEAM? SO, THIS IS SOME FUN FACTS FOR YOU. >> OKAY. LET’S GO. >> @#SINCE 2009, NOT COUNTING LAST YEAR BECAUSE IT IS TOO EARLY TO TALK ABOUT, JOSH YOUNG AND CAROLINA. SINCE 2009, THERE HAVE BEEN 10

QUARTERBACKS TAKEN WITH THE FIRST PICK IN THE DRAFT. >> OKAY. @# >> EIGHT OF THOSE 10 HAVE TAKEN THEIR TEAM TO THE PLAYOFFS AT SOME POINT. THREE OF THOSE EIGHT HAVE TAKEN THEIR TEAM TO THE SUPER BOWL. THE BEARS, TO ME, OF ALL THOSE

SITUATIONS, HAS AS GOOD OF A ROSTER, IF NOT BETTER, @#IF CAL IS THE PICK AND HE IS JUST A FUNCTIONAL STARTING NFL QUARTERBACK IN YEAR ONE, I TRULY BELIEVE THEY WILL MAKE THE PLAYOFFS NEXT YEAR AND THE PATH LOOKS REALLY GOOD BECAUSE

OF WHAT THEY @#HAVE DONE TO PUT SURROUNDING CAST THAT IS REALLY SOLID FROM THE JUMP. THEY CAN PROTECT. THEY’VE GOT RUNNING BACKS AND THEY’VE GOT RECEIVERS AND THEY’VE GOT TIGHT ENDS. THIS IS LOOKING GOOD FOR CHICAGO. >> THE THREE THAT WENT TO THE

SUPER BOWL, MAHOMES — BACK FIRST PICK OVERALL. >> @#GOFF. >> OKAY. THIS IS A TERRIBLE IDEA FOR ME TO TRY TO DO THIS OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD. GO AHEAD. HELP ME HERE, JOSH. >> JOE BURROW, JARED GOFF, CAM NEWTON.

>> OH, YEAH. THE ONE SUPER BOWL FOR CAM. >> SINCE 2012, THE LAST TIME A QUARTERBACK SELECTED NUMBER @#O OVERALL HAS TAKEN THEIR TEAM TO THE PLAYOFFS WAS 2012, ANDREW LUCK. THAT YEAR, THREE ROOKIE QUARTERBACKS TOOK THEIR TEAM TO THE PLAYOFFS.@#

THERE HAS ALSO BEEN A HANDFUL OF ROOKIE QUARTERBACKS SINCE 2012 WHO HAVE TAKEN THEIR TEAM TO THE PLAYOFFS. WE SAW IT LAST YEAR, NUMBER TWO OVERALL. DAK PRESCOTT TOOK HIS TEAM TO THE PLAYOFFS IN HIS ROOKIE YEAR. I BELIEVE THERE IS ONE OTHER

ONE IN THAT TIME PERIOD THAT WAS ABLE TO TAKE HIS TEAM IN THE FIRST YEAR AS A STARTER TO THE PLAYOFFS. >> CALEB IS GOING TO WIN THE @