5 NFL Draft prospects Bears should already be scouting

1. Caleb Williams may have leverage, but he is the No. 1 prospect for 2024

This isn't that hard. If you end up with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, you take Caleb Williams out of USC, no questions asked. The first overall pick in a particular draft has not been this clear-cut since Trevor Lawrence came out of Clemson in 2021, or since Joe Burrow turned pro after his unforgettable 2019 season for the LSU Tigers. Even if you have a quarterback, you take Williams.

I think with that notion in mind, the one of Williams potentially becoming the next Patrick Mahomes, Chicago may need to sell high-ish on Justin Fields for Ryan Poles' standards anyway. He would look good in Red and Black like he did at his first college in his native Georgia, suiting up for his hometown Dirty Birds should Desmond Ridder ultimately fail for the Atlanta Falcons. Fields will have his suitors.

The best part about Williams' game is that it cuts through. You do not have to stay up until some ungodly hour on the East Coast Sunday morning to see USC finish one of its last remaining few Pac-12 games to know Williams is college's best player. Georgia's Brock Bowers might be right up there at tight end, but Williams actually would change the number on a point spread, if you are into that stuff.

If a team ends up with the first pick and does not draft Williams, that general manager should be fired.