At this point in the offseason, it is pretty clear to nearly every NFL Draft expert that the Chicago Bears are sold on selecting USC quarterback Caleb Williams with the No. 1 pick in the draft on Thursday. But that doesn’t mean that Bears GM Ryan Poles is ready to make it official quite yet.
In past years, NFL general managers with the No. 1 pick have made their intentions with the pick official to the public. Last year, the Carolina Panthers announced they would be selecting Bryce Young days before they were ever officially on the clock.
Poles is seemingly taking a different approach, saying that the team has decided on who the selection will be, but that the public will have to wait until the draft officially starts to find out.
“So unfortunately, it’s one of those things I think everyone’s got to tune in on Thursday to watch and figure out,” Poles told reporters on Tuesday. “But I feel really good about our process and where we are and where we’re headed. So we know what we’re going to do but everyone is going to have to wait until Thursday.”
Again, the pick is almost definitely going to end up being Williams. But this at least includes a little intrigue into the average fan’s head when they tune into the draft.
What more people are wondering is what the team plans to do with their second first-round pick later in the night. The Bears also hold the No. 9 overall pick, and it is far more unclear what the organization could do with that pick.
Only time will tell. But for the time being, Poles and company are keeping their cards close to the vest when it comes to the draft.
