ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. explains decision to have Bears taking Caleb Williams at No. 1 overall in Mock 1.0
In his latest mock NFL Draft, analyst Mel Kiper Jr. has the Chicago Bears drafting USC quarterback Caleb Williams with the first overall pick. That, presumably, means that the Bears will be trading former first round pick Justin Fields.
After that mock draft came out, Kiper made an appearance on Get Up. There, he explained that he feels that Williams is too talented a player to pass up with the first overall pick.
“Caleb is a special quarterback,” Mel Kiper said. “And I think when you look back at 2022 when he had the phenomenal year, this year he actually completed a higher percentage of those passes in a so-called down year from the Arizona game on. Everybody remembers the Notre Dame game. But that 68%, he doesn’t throw interceptions. Over the last two years guys, he’s been responsible for rushing and passing 93 touchdowns, 10 picks.”
The other key piece to the puzzle for Chicago is the contract situation that each quarterback is going to have. By drafting Caleb Williams, Chicago would extend the time its starting quarterback is on a rookie contract and give the Bears more room to fill out the rest of the roster under the salary cap.
“Talk about resetting the clock. Mike Tannenbaum talks about that all the time. If it’s even, you take Caleb. Unless Justin Fields is significantly better in your mind right now where he is, then roll the dice on Caleb. People say it’s an unknown on Caleb. Well, it’s an unknown on Justin whether he can be a franchise quarterback,” Kiper said.
“So, I would trade Justin Fields, try to recoup that second round pick you lost with the Montez Sweat trade, which was a great trade, Montez Sweat is a heck of a player, and then you get a fourth round pick, a two and a four, two and a three. Bottom line is trading Justin Fields makes the most sense. Taking Caleb Williams has the chance to be, I’m not gonna say generational because I said it with [Trevor] Lawrence and Lawrence hasn’t gotten there yet, but he could be one of the top five quarterbacks in the NFL. That’s what you’re hoping for. That’s why you take him number one overall.”
Louis Riddick weighs in on Justin Fields vs. Caleb Williams debate
The debate between Justin Fields and Caleb Williams is going to be key throughout the 2024 NFL Draft process. It’s a debate that Louis Riddick recently shared his thoughts on.
“Based off of what I see with him, the rapport [Fields] has with the skill position players that they have right now and what they did as far as changing the coaching staff, that leads me to believe from the outside looking in that they believe more the issue was what was happening around him than what is happening with him,” Riddick said.
“We’ve had this conversation. I’ve been back and forth on this. Like, what the hell is going on? Why doesn’t he always look comfortable, why does the game plan sometimes seem to really not be fitting what he does best, why does sometimes he look jammed up? Why are things not clicking for him? Maybe they were seeing the same thing. Maybe they were they were thinking the same way. He’s better than what he’s showing. … I’m leaning towards, I would want to keep him. Trade down, get an absolute just tractor trailer haul and then, go to work as far as team building and build a juggernaut. Because you’d better build a juggernaut especially with the way that division’s looking.”