Caleb Williams reveals surprise player for Bears to pick at No. 9 in 2024 NFL Draft: "He’d put his life on the line for me"
Caleb Williams is expected to go to the Chicago Bears first overall on Thursday's first round of the 2024 NFL Draft. However, general manager Ryan Poles also has the ninth overall pick, which leads to many possibilities.
The potential questions are if they will look to draft a wide receiver to complement DJ Moore and Keenan Allen. Alternatively, will they bolster their offensive line or will they make a shock move for another linebacker?
Speaking in an impromptu media scrum on Wednesday, the 2022 Heisman winner said:
“I’d probably go Olu Fashanu because I know he’d put his life on the line for me ... and then one of the top 3 WRs.”
For context, Williams and Olu Fashanu were teammates at Gonzaga College High School in Washington DC. Each of them, however, went their separate ways in college: the former initially played at Oklahoma before transferring to USC, while the latter stayed in the Eastern Seaboard at Penn State.
How long did the Bears know that Caleb Williams would be their choice for the No. 1 pick?
The hype for Caleb Williams has been actually building up for sometime. And according to The Athletic’s Dianna Russini, the Bears had decided that he would be their guy a while ago. She wrote:
"The Chicago Bears have made it known to teams since before the NFL Scouting Combine that they are not open to trading the No. 1 pick. Though quarterback-hungry franchises have beseeched teams up and down the top 10 to consider a trade, Chicago wasn’t even an option on the call sheet."
It is worth noting that the No. 1 pick that will be used on him was acquired from the Carolina Panthers in exchange for the pick that eventually became Bryce Young.
Elsewhere, sports business website Sportico has exclusively revealed that Williams will make history on Thursday as the first No. 1 pick in NFL history to have no agent. He is currently represented by a self-appointed team led by his father Carl.