Windy City Gridiron
Here we go again, Chicago Bears fans. That old fear is back.
The fear that this team got it wrong again. With every chance to get it right. With the No. 1 overall pick in their clutches and the choice of any of the three top QBs in the 2024 before them.
It was hard enough last year when Jayden Daniels’ Rookie of the Year campaign took the NFL by storm and the Washington Commanders to the NFC Championship game. But to an extent, you knew it wasn’t the same situation. After all, how could you expect Williams, a mere rookie, to overcome Matt Eberflus and the unrivaled dysfunction of the 2024 Chicago Bears from top to bottom? Besides, Daniels has been hurt and not nearly as groundbreaking this season, taking some of the bloom off that rose.
But what’s happening now might be worse.
Because Drake Maye, the No. 3 pick in last year’s draft, is legitimately a top-five quarterback in the NFL as we speak. He might even be the favorite for MVP at the moment, leading the bottom-dwelling New England Patriots to a surprising 6-2 start. He’s the best deep passer in the league and is second in the NFL in passer rating behind only Lamar Jackson. He’s doing things even the Patriots have never seen before from a quarterback, and this is the franchise that employed Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr. for 20 years. He just finished lighting up the vaunted Browns defense—his biggest test of the year—for three touchdowns.
And he was right there for the taking if the Bears wanted him.
Did Ryan Poles really laugh him off the screen during the pre-draft process? If he did, I doubt he’s laughing now.
But beyond all that, Maye is also on his second head coach and offensive coordinator in as many seasons. He also endured a complete mess in 2024 under Jerod Mayo, who simply wasn’t ready to be an NFL head coach yet and showed it. Plus, Maye unquestionably had a worse roster around him than Williams did as a rookie, though horrible coaching has a way of wasting good talent.
So why is Maye performing this much better than Williams at this juncture? Did the Bears truly make a mistake? And is Williams a bust?
As always, the answers aren’t as straightforward as they seem.
Having watched every game of both players in 2024, I came away thinking both were better than the situations around them suggested, but that Maye’s flaws were ultimately easier to correct. Both needed (and still need) to live to fight another day rather than extending plays past their time of death, for example. But Maye has always played faster, even dating back to college, taken fewer sacks, and has so far thrown more catchable footballs in the pros than Williams.
Both needed better offensive coaching and got it this offseason in Ben Johnson (Bears) and Josh McDaniels, who returned for his third stint as the Patriots’ offensive coordinator...
