Caleb Williams isn’t afraid to list his career goals.
“My reason why I play is to win games and to win championships,” he said last week, one day after the Bears made the USC quarterback the top pick in the NFL draft. “And so I want to be a big portion of it.”
He has to win his division first.
Teams eyeing a Super Bowl in five years are the ones that have exciting Aprils. The ones who can win a title this year don’t.
The Lions remain the latter — a team with legitimate 2024 Super Bowl goals. Last year’s NFC runner-up emerged from free agency the way they entered it: the favorite in the North with the Packers, and breakout star quarterback Jordan Love, on their heels.
In the span of one season, the Lions have become the bastion of consistency in the NFC North. They entered last week’s draft with Pick 29, keeping company in the exclusive neighborhood of Ravens, 49ers and Chiefs. Though they spiced up their first round by trading up five spots to pick Alabama cornerback Terrion Arnold, the Lions’ draft night was more transactional than transformative.
That’s new territory for a franchise whose incompetence yielded Picks 1, 2 (twice), 3 and 5 in the past 15 years. From 2019-22, they had seven picks in the top 18 — and 20 total wins.
Even Daniel Jeremiah, the NFL Network draft guru, joked last week that “draft season’s not as exciting for the Lions as it used to be.”
The Bears have built a roster to take aim at the Lions.
“It’s exciting, and we understand that,” Bears coach Matt Eberflus said. “We understand where we are and where we came from … Now it’s about putting the football team together and the guys coming together.”
How fast they come together will depend on how quickly Williams picks up his new offense. The same applies to J.J. McCarthy, for whom the Vikings traded up to draft 10th. The 21-year-old Michigan national champion will be judged for years by how he fares against Williams, who is one year older.
Drafting McCarthy, who attended Nazareth Academy in La Grange Park, marked Vikings’ long-awaited pivot toward developing a young quarterback to replace Kirk Cousins. General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah had this day in mind when he first interviewed Kevin O’Connell, then 36, for their vacant head coaching job two years ago.
“When we go back over history and we say these quarterbacks have missed, there’s a lot of hands that are dirty in that regard,” Adofo-Mensah told Vikings reporters. “We’re going to make sure that our hands are clean and give him the best opportunity he can to be the best player he can be in this offense.”
Bears GM Ryan Poles has done the same with Williams. He drafted Washington receiving star Rome Odunze No. 9 last week, one month after trading for six-time Pro Bowl wideout Keenan Allen and signing running back D’Andre Swift and tight end Gerald Everett.
Williams worked out alongside receiver DJ Moore last month and is excited about playing alongside tight end Cole Kmet, whom he’s already nicknamed “Clark Kent” because of his resemblance to Superman’s alter ego.
“You set high expectations (for the offense),” Williams said. “I don’t necessarily have numbers or anything like that. An electric offense. Efficient. Fun. Just spreading the ball around to everybody.”
That would make the Bears almost unrecognizable from years past — they finished 2022 with the fewest passing yards in the NFL. The rest of the division looks different than two years ago, too.
Lions quarterback Jared Goff is the only starting quarterback who was in the same role one year and two weeks ago. Love, who posted a better statistical season than any quarterback in Bears history last year, has started only 18 career games.
At the time of their departure from the division, Aaron Rodgers and Cousins had combined for 14 Pro Bowl appearances and 368 career starts. The Bears traded Justin Fields to the Steelers in March, marking the second time in four years they were content to watch a first-round quarterback go become someone else’s backup.
One of three NFC North starters 25 and under, Williams has a chance to become the face of the NFC North.
Eventually.
“I want to go out there, I want to have fun, I want to enjoy it, I want to do it with my teammates,” Williams said. “And, so, what better place to do it than the Chicago Bears
What’s new in the North
A look at how the NFC North has changed this offseason:
Lions
Top additions: DT D.J. Reader, DE Marcus Davenport, CB Carlton Davis, G Kevin Zeitler,
Biggest losses: S C.J. Gardner-Johnson, G Jonah Jackson, DT Benito Jones, CB Cameron Sutton, WR Josh Reynolds
Draft picks: Alabama CB Terrion Arnold (1/24), Missouri CB Ennis Rakestraw (2/61), British Columbia OL Giovanni Manu (4/126), Utah S Sione Vaki (4/132), LSU DT Mekhi Wingo (6/189), Boston College OL Christian Mahogany (6/210)
In short: The Lions might have drafted their starting cornerback tandem for the next five years in an attempt to fill their biggest hole.
Packers
Top additions: RB Josh Jacobs, S Xavier McKinney, K Greg Joseph
Biggest losses: RB Aaron Jones, G Jon Runyan, LB De’Vondre Campbell, S Darnell Savage, T Yosh Nijman
Draft picks: Arizona OL Jordan Morgan (1/25), Texas A&M LB Edgerrin Cooper (2/45), Georgia DB Javon Bullard (2/58), USC RB MarShawn Lloyd (3/88), Missouri LB Ty’Ron Hopper (3/91), Oregon DB Evan Williams (4/111), Duke OL Jacob Monk (5/163),Oregon State DB Kitan Oladapo (5/169), Georgia State T Travis Glover (6/202), Tulane QB Michael Pratt (7/245), Penn State CB Kalen King (7/255)
In short: The NFL’s youngest team last year still believes in building through the college ranks — the Packers used 11 draft picks.
Vikings
Top additions: RB Aaron Jones, OLB Jonathan Greenard, QB Sam Darnold, OLB Andrew Van Ginkel,
Biggest losses: OLB Danielle Hunter, QB Kirk Cousins, OLB D.J. Wonnum, OLB Marcus Davenport, RB Alexander Mattison, WR K.J. Osborn, QB Josh Dobbs, K Greg Joseph
Draft picks: Michigan QB J.J. McCarthy (1/10), Alabama OLB Dallas Turner (1/17), Oregon DB Khyree Jackson (4/108), Oklahoma OL Walter Rouse (6/177), Alabama K Will Reichard (6/203), Wake Forest OL Michael Jurgens (7/230), Texas A&M-Commerce DT Levi Drake (7/232)
In short: Six weeks after losing their starting quarterback, the Vikings drafted someone they hope can be their starter for the next 10 years.
Bears
Top additions: WR Keenan Allen, RB D’Andre Swift, TE Gerald Everett, S Kevin Byard, C Ryan Bates
Biggest losses: QB Justin Fields, WR Darnell Mooney, DT Justin Jones
Draft picks: USC QB Caleb Williams (1/1), Washington WR Rome Odunze (1/9), Yale T Kiran Amegadjie (3/75), Iowa P Tory Taylor (4/122), Kansas DL Austin Booker (5/144)
In short: GM Ryan Poles nailed the first round of the draft and boasts what could be the most dynamic Bears offense since the merger. A low bar, we know.