{"id":114700,"date":"2024-04-24T04:14:49","date_gmt":"2024-04-24T04:14:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/?p=114700"},"modified":"2024-04-24T04:14:59","modified_gmt":"2024-04-24T04:14:59","slug":"caleb-williams-throws-to-elite-prospect-sparks-speculation-on-bears-9th-pick-nguyensa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/caleb-williams-throws-to-elite-prospect-sparks-speculation-on-bears-9th-pick-nguyensa\/","title":{"rendered":"Caleb Williams Throws to Elite Prospect, Sparks Speculation on Bears\u2019 9th Pick"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div id=\"post-featured-container-id\">\n<div>\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/GettyImages-1655630952-e1710933212663.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" alt=\"Caleb Williams Pro Day Ryan Poles Chicago Bears News\" width=\"780\" height=\"439\" data-img-load-time=\"111\" data-dom-ready-time=\"138\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>Getty\u00a0USC quarterback and presumptive No. 1 pick Caleb Williams.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The\u00a0Chicago Bears\u00a0continue to be coy about their draft plans, but the big picture is becoming clearer as the first round approaches on Thursday night, April 25.<\/p>\n<p>Tom Pelissero of NFL Network\u00a0posted to social media Tuesday that prospective No. 1 overall pick\u00a0Caleb Williams\u00a0of USC recently threw to multiple Bears wide receivers during a practice session. And while that is intriguing, it wasn\u2019t the bombshell of Pelissero\u2019s report.<\/p>\n<div id=\"7775d4e189e696fb5b62e9a0ec86764a\">\n<article>\n<div>\n<p>Caleb Williams and Rome Odunze didn\u2019t just take the same flight to Detroit for the draft: I\u2019m told Odunze recently caught balls from Williams \u2026 who also was throwing with\u00a0#Bears\u00a0WRs Keenan Allen and D.J. Moore.<\/p>\n<p>Chicago owns the Nos. 1 and 9 picks, and hosted Odunze on a visit.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cCaleb Williams and\u00a0Rome Odunze\u00a0didn\u2019t just take the same flight to Detroit for the draft: I\u2019m told Odunze recently caught balls from Williams \u2026 who also was throwing with #Bears WRs\u00a0Keenan Allen\u00a0and\u00a0D.J. Moore,\u201d\u00a0Pelissero wrote. \u201cChicago owns the Nos. 1 and 9 picks and hosted Odunze on a visit.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Rome Odunze, Caleb Williams Pairing Represents Chance at Dynamic Offense for Bears<\/h2>\n<div id=\"attachment_4954198\">\n<div>\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/GettyImages-1901312342-e1712077949350.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=782\" alt=\"Bears Top 30 Visit Tracker 2024 NFL Draft Rome Odunze\" width=\"782\" height=\"440\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4954198\" data-lazy-load=\"\" data-src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/GettyImages-1901312342-e1712077949350.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=782\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-4954198\">GettyFormer Washington wide receiver Rome Odunze.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The news sparked reaction from Bears fans and writers, including\u00a0Jacob Infante of Windy City Gridiron.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOH MY GOD THIS MIGHT BE HAPPENING,\u201d\u00a0Infante wrote on X over a repost of Pelissero\u2019s report.<\/p>\n<p>The excitement makes sense when considering the prospect of creating a dynamic QB-WR duo with both players in their early 20s and projected to have long and successful NFL careers. Toss in that if the Bears draft Williams first overall, which is the widespread belief among analysts nationwide, he will also throw to Allen, Moore and tight end\u00a0Cole Kmet.<\/p>\n<p>In other words, if Williams is the player advertised, Chicago could field a dangerously potent offense as early as next season.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, for the Odunze-Williams pairing to become a reality, the receiver will have to fall far enough in the draft for the Bears to select him \u2014 presumably all the way to the 9th spot, unless Chicago is willing to trade up.<\/p>\n<p>There are reasonable scenarios in which Odunze falls to the Bears, the simplest being that a team currently picking outside of the top 10 \u2014 like the\u00a0Minnesota Vikings\u00a0(No. 11) or the\u00a0Denver Broncos\u00a0(No. 12) \u2014 trades into a top-five spot and removes a receiver-needy squad from that section of the draft order.<\/p>\n<p>The\u00a0Arizona Cardinals\u00a0(No. 4) and the\u00a0Los Angeles Chargers\u00a0(No. 5) number among such teams. Should one of them trade behind Chicago, and should the other organizations looking for a wideout favor\u00a0Marvin Harrison Jr.\u00a0of Ohio State and\/or\u00a0Malik Nabers\u00a0of LSU more than Odunze, then the Bears could end up in a position to select him.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Several NFL Draft Dominoes Must Fall Right for Bears to Land Rome Odunze With No. 9 Pick<\/h2>\n<div id=\"attachment_4981034\">\n<div>\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/GettyImages-2054063808-e1713231280599.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=782\" alt=\"Rome Odunze, Washington\" width=\"782\" height=\"441\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4981034\" data-lazy-load=\"\" data-src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/GettyImages-2054063808-e1713231280599.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=782\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-4981034\">GettyWide receiver Rome Odunze of Washington.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>That is the scenario that\u00a0Mel Kiper Jr. and Field Yates of ESPN\u00a0laid out in their most recent joint mock draft on April 15, in which the Bears select Williams No. 1 overall, the Vikings trade up with the Chargers to No. 5 and Chicago drafts Odunze with the 9th pick.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is a no-brainer pick,\u201d Kiper wrote of the Bears selecting the USC quarterback first overall. \u201cWilliams is the best quarterback in this class, and the Bears need a franchise passer to build around.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Yates has the Cardinals selecting Harrison fourth and the Giants going with Nabers sixth, leaving Odunze for the Bears.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI love this fit with Williams, though I thought about an offensive lineman or edge rusher, too,\u201d Kiper wrote of Chicago drafting the Washington wideout. \u201cOdunze could be a star. This is how Chicago can set up Williams to succeed as a rookie.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The three things that could derail a pairing of Williams and Odunze are Chicago deciding to draft an offensive tackle or an edge rusher, either at No. 9 or via a trade back to pick up an asset, another team liking Odunze enough to select him ahead of the 9th spot, or a team like the\u00a0New York Giants\u00a0trading up with a franchise like the Cardinals from No. 6 to No. 4 and keeping a third receiver-needy franchise ahead of the Bears in the draft order.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Getty\u00a0USC quarterback and presumptive No. 1 pick Caleb Williams. The\u00a0Chicago Bears\u00a0continue to be coy about their draft plans, but the big picture is becoming clearer as the&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":114701,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-114700","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114700","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=114700"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114700\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":114702,"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114700\/revisions\/114702"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/114701"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=114700"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=114700"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=114700"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}