The Chicago Bears took the 2024 NFL Draft by storm and completely flipped the narrative of over 100 years of Windy City football culture.
Ryan Poles is firmly in charge and has set the tone for the Chicago Bears for the 2024 NFL season and beyond in one night. The Chicago Bears have flipped the script completely and are now a team poised to compete for Super Bowl titles on an annual basis and it’s long overdue.
The Chicago Bears, led by Ryan Poles completely changed the culture of the franchise in one night with two draft picks. The hope is the Bears have found their Montana to Rice combination that can lead them to multiple Super Bowl championships and the excitement of this development is palpable.
Caleb Williams is the primary tone setter for the Chicago Bears, a franchise QB for the ages and it’s a completely different change than the last two first round draft picks of Mitch Trubisky and Justin Fields.
Both Trubisky and Fields were drafted to supplement what the Chicago Bears already had in place. Fields and Trubisky were supposed to come in and do just enough to help push an tenacious defense over the top. Trubisky and Fields were the missing pieces that were supposed to supplement what was already in place. Trubisky came in with a loaded defense and a supportive running game and then the biggest added piece was a trade for Khalil Mack. The Chicago Bears were still focused on winning with defense.
Then with Justin Fields, it was up to him to pick up the pieces and do what Trubisky couldn’t do. Again, the focus was on the defense with Mack, Akiem Hicks and Robert Quinn. The quarterback was supposed to be supplemental to the Chicago Bears success, not the catalyst of the Chicago Bears success.
Then in one fell swoop, Ryan Poles completely changed the tradition of run the ball and play defense to win championships. A losing philosophy that’s never been the major reason behind winning Super Bowls. What’s won Super Bowls has and will always be Hall of Fam caliber QBs. Of the 58 Super Bowl games played only 13 of those games have been won by QBs not in the Hall of Fame. Most of the rest who are currently playing will likely one day be in the Hall of Fame (i.e. Tom Brady Patrick Mahomes Eli Manning Ben Roethleisberger).
The Bears shook off years of having Hall of Famers at running back and on defense to finally move the needle towards the offense with the selections of Williams and wide receiver Rome Odunze. Williams and Odunze push the Bears into the level of offensive football that has been missing from this team for generations.
The Chicago Bears have never had a consistent threat at wide receiver. They’ve had good players, Marty Booker Brandon Marshall Alshon Jeffery, and Allen Robinson but their career fourth leading WR of all-time is Walter Payton. There has never been a philosophical focus on the passing game and the will to win with the passing game like they have now.
Certainly, defense is important, but the defense is supposed to be supplemental to the offense not the other way around. The Bears finally seem to have gotten that right not only because of Williams and Odunze but because they added DJ Moore and they traded for Keenan Allen. Showing that anything that they do will be with the idea of supporting the QB rather than trying to revive the 1985 Chicago Bears defense.
The defense was the focus the past two years, as the Bears added Kyler Gordon, Jaquan Brisker, Tyrique Stevenson Zaach Pickens, Gervon Dexter and free agents. So now the offense needed the attention and needed to get younger. Adding Rome Odunze gives the Chicago Bears depth at the wide receiver position. So if Keenan Allen or DJ Moore gets hurt, the rookie can be ready to step in and play in place of the veterans.
It gives them quiet leverage in contract extension negotiations with Keenan Allen because Allen will need the Bears more than the Bears need him. The likelihood that a team will want to spend big money on a 33-year-old receiver in 2025 if Allen wants to test the market is almost non-existent. The Bears can get by without Allen if he chooses to walk and not risk taking away a weapon from their rookie QB.
The Chicago Bears are finally changing the foundation to a team that wants to win because of their offense lead by a franchise QB. They’re not supplementing their team with a QB and that’s the primary difference in what happened last night. The priority is to win because of quarterback Caleb Williams, not use Williams to supplement winning with the defense.
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