Bears Day 2 draft takeaways: Caleb Williams unfazed as new era begins in Chicago (2024)

LAKE FOREST, Ill. — Caleb Williams said he watched more Chicago Bears football last season than he ever had.

Normally, a joke would follow that, as the Bears haven’t been an easy watch as of late. But Williams got to see the foundation of a team on the rise.

Offensive tackle Kiran Amegadjie, the 75th pick in the NFL Draft, has been watching the Bears his whole life. The Hinsdale Central product’s favorite player is Devin Hester, and he had his dream realized when his hometown team took him in Round 3.

Bears fans reacted quickly to Williams’ pick, and it didn’t take long for Williams to realize his popularity in Chicago.

“It came out that I passed Caitlin Clark’s record (for jersey sales),” Williams said Friday at his introductory news conference at Halas Hall. “I had to repost it and said, ‘I guess that’s Chicago for you.’ That’s probably my answer to that. All the love and support is strong. I’ve heard about it. So to get some of that love and support that early is really awesome. It’s really exciting.”

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The veteran Bears are excited, too.

“I got a lot of text messages from the offense and defensive guys that are just fired up,” general manager Ryan Poles said. “Competition for practice — they’re all excited about that, too. Just from all the messages that I got and some of the guys that I’ve seen in the hallways, they’re really pumped.”

This is the Caleb Williams era, and alongside wide receiver Rome Odunze, the future of the Bears met with reporters at Halas Hall. A few hours later, Amegadjie joined them as part of the 2024 draft class.

From Williams’ and Odunze’s welcome in Lake Forest to the newest Bears offensive tackle, here are five takeaways from Day 2.

1. Williams’ wild media tour

Thursday night, Williams joined a video call with reporters back at Halas Hall, did a one-on-one with every TV station that made the trip and did several other interviews as the top pick.

Friday, he made his Chicago sports radio debut before standing next to Odunze, holding their jerseys, and he sat down for his first of many news conferences in Lake Forest.

Every top pick, Odunze included, goes through a similar car wash, but Williams’ was more extensive, and he wasn’t tired. He took it all in stride.

.@CALEBcsw: "I'm excited, I know everybody's excited." pic.twitter.com/TVPRNiLfm6

— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) April 26, 2024

“When you prepare mentally and physically and spiritually for moments like this, when you actually are in the moment, you don’t feel fazed,” he said. “You don’t feel nervous. You don’t feel the butterflies or anything like that. You’re ready for it. You’re prepared for it.

“So with that and then the help of my support team — my dad, girlfriend and team outside of actual football and then actually the coaches and the people around me … my mentors that helped instill all these things in me throughout time, whether it’s me watching ’em or them telling me right from wrong or good job or bad job — you grow up and you progress. And so, they helped prepare me for these moments. The feeling of being worried in these moments doesn’t ever really cross my mind.”

2. Lincoln Riley on his star QB

The USC coach chatted with Bears reporters Friday night about Williams, and he was asked about Williams’ big goals.

“He’s not scared for greatness,” Riley said. “He’s not scared to put it out there, he’s not scared to be himself, and I think you have to have that belief in yourself. You have to have that belief in the people around you, and it’s contagious. It is. When a leader or a quarterback feels that way about his team and about what they’re trying to accomplish, I think that it energizes the entire group.”

A common theme with Williams has been questions — and answers — about how he’ll handle the attention that comes with being a quarterback in Chicago. Riley saw examples in Los Angeles that told him Williams was ready for what’s next.

“In some ways, there’s probably a lot of parallels coming into USC, where you’ve got an all-time iconic place that’s been a little bit down and you’re trying to bring it back, and obviously there’s a lot of parallels with what he’s getting ready to come up and do in Chicago, and to have that jolt of confidence and excitement in the beginning to help get it off the ground, I think, is a key part,” he said. “He certainly has the inner belief to get that done.”

3. ‘I can’t even put it into words’

Amegadjie was about to miss his flight as he tried to find his gate at O’Hare when Bears scout Tom Broadway recognized him and stopped him to say hello.

That was Amegadjie’s first somewhat official interaction with the team that ultimately selected him.

“It was a very random meet-up,” he said. “Obviously, it led to this now. Crazy how the world works.”

Before that, Amegadjie had met coach Matt Eberflus at a golf club last summer.

“He didn’t know who I was, and I told him one day I would be sitting in his office and the next year they would be looking to draft me,” he said. “So he reminded me of that on the phone today.”

.@the2kkiran5's staying home 🐻⬇️ pic.twitter.com/LKU4R50HPQ

— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) April 27, 2024

The Bears have had a propensity for adding former IHSA players to the roster. Amegadjie joins Cole Kmet, T.J. Edwards, Jack Sanborn and Doug Kramer. Director of player personnel Trey Koziol also played his high school football for Hinsdale Central.

“It’s always fun when you can bring a guy in who grew up a Bears fan, and you could see it on his face when he walked into Halas Hall on his visit,” Koziol said. “He’s really excited to be here.”

As Amegadjie processed the news among family and friends at a local golf club, he reflected on what it meant to be a Bear.

“I can’t even put it into words,” he said. “I really have no words. I grew up a Bears fan watching Devin Hester and playing Madden 08-09, running around with Devin Hester in kickoff mode. This is everything I’ve wanted since I was a little kid. I can’t even put it into words. It’s amazing.”

4. Amegadjie’s fit on the O-line

As the Bears awaited their pick, they had a need on the defensive line. When Bralen Trice, the Washington edge rusher, was selected one pick before them, they went with the highest guy on their board, Poles said.

A quad injury cut Amegadjie’s senior season short and kept him from playing in the Senior Bowl. That limits his tape against FCS opponents to begin with, but his size stands out. He tied Georgia’s Amarius Mims for the longest arms among the draftable tackles, at 36 1/8 inches.

“He’s a special talent,” Koziol said. “He’s got really rare physical traits. I think he’s a player that’s on the ascent.”

“You love the tools that he has,” Poles said. “His pass pro is really good. Love his length, hand usage. And a big man that we believe is going to continue to get bigger and more explosive, so it should really increase the competition on our offensive line and make everyone better.”

Koziol believes Amegadjie has “starter potential” and wouldn’t rule out the rookie winning a job on the offensive line.

Amegadjie could “potentially” challenge left tackle Braxton Jones, Poles said, but “probably not Year 1.” The Bears want their offensive linemen to be more versatile, so Amegadjie will begin as a swing tackle who can also play inside.

Poles did reiterate an organizational philosophy: “We don’t really want to put a ceiling on him.”

5. Bears leave impression on Odunze

As the draft began, Odunze got himself in the mindset of being happy with whoever drafted him. But he acknowledged he had the Bears in the back of his mind, mainly because of his visit to Halas Hall.

“The attitude and the effort that they put into my visit and into the conversations that we had was incredible,” he said. “I feel like they truly did their research on me, honestly. I think they really understand what I can bring to the offense and what I can bring to the organization. And when I was having those conversations with them, it wasn’t like I felt they had missed anything about me, who I was as a person and who I was as a player. So, I felt appreciated.”

(Photo: Michael Reaves / Getty Images)