LAKE FOREST, Ill. (AP) — The Caleb Williams era is underway in Chicago and Rome Odunze is there, too. Fair to say, the NFL draft went just about the way the Bears hoped.
Chicago kicked it off by taking Williams with the No. 1 overall pick and gave the Southern California star another target eight spots later by drafting Odunze on Thursday night. With a Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback and an All-America receiver from Washington, it wasn't hard to see why general manager Ryan Poles was excited.
“To have the opportunities that we did this year, for everything to go what I think is in a really good direction, it's really big for our football team,” Poles said Saturday. “I think we made huge strides forward. There's work to be done, but this is an impact draft for this organization, for sure.”
The Bears added an offensive lineman in the third round when they took Yale's Kiran Amegadjie with the 75th pick on Friday and selected Iowa punter Tory Taylor in the fourth at No. 122 on Saturday. They traded into the fifth round, acquiring the 144th pick from Buffalo for a 2025 fourth-rounder, and selected Kansas edge rusher Austin Booker.
Poles has overhauled the roster in two years and now has the Bears looking like playoff contenders after going 10-24 with him and coach Matt Eberflus in charge. There's a buzz in Chicago and it's not just because of the prized rookies.
The Bears boast a potential top-tier defense led by edge rusher Montez Sweat and cornerback Jaylon Johnson, and their offense has a chance to become the backbone of the franchise for the first time in decades. They traded with the Los Angeles Chargers for six-time Pro Bowler Keenan Allen, giving them another top receiver to go with DJ Moore, and with Odunze in the mix, Williams will have no shortage of targets.
The quarterback position has been a sore spot historically in Chicago. The Bears hope that changes with Williams.
“The history’s the history,” Poles said. “Like I’m kind of done talking about it. You go back so much all the time and those days are over.”
Williams had 93 touchdown passes and 14 interceptions over three seasons at Oklahoma and USC. The 2022 Heisman Trophy winner asked some questions about the franchise's history with QBs when he met with the Bears. He got the answers he needed.
“The explanation was just that they haven't put everybody in the right spaces,” Williams said. “That's their mission, goal here. That's why you've been seeing the people hired — coaches, executives, PR teams and things like that. Getting those right people to bring in the right people for the culture and to lead to victories.”
The Bears are the only team not to have a quarterback throw for 4,000 yards in a season.
If the offense comes together as envisioned, it won't just be opponents having a tough time. The Bears' defense could be in for a challenge, too.
“I think it’s going to be tough to defend, starting with practice,” Eberflus said. “We’ve gotta defend those guys in practice, which I think is going to be really good for our skillset on both sides of the ball."
The Bears went local in the third round when they took the 6-foot-5, 323-pound Amegadjie, who's from the Chicago suburbs.
Amegadjie was first-team All-Ivy League as Yale's left tackle the past two seasons after starting at right guard in 2021. He could push Braxton Jones for the starting job at left tackle, though Poles said he sees Amegadjie as more of a swing tackle for now who can also play guard.
Taylor comes to the Bears after a record-setting career at Iowa.
The Australian set an NCAA mark last season with 4,479 yards punting while playing for a team with the worst offense in the nation. He is the Hawkeyes' career leader in punts (295) and yards punting (13,657). The Bears ranked near the bottom of the NFL in punting last season with Trenton Gill.
“The leg strength. The way he can flip the field," scout Drew Raucina said. "He’s going to help our defense. Everything about that he’s going to help us, come in here immediately and make an impact.”
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Chicago Bears No. 9 draft pick wide receiver Rome Odunze, left, and No. 1 draft pick quarterback Caleb Williams, right, hold up jerseys as they pose for a photo during an NFL football news conference in Lake Forest, Ill., Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
The Bears see bigger things in store after drafting QB Caleb Williams, WR Rome Odunze
The Bears see bigger things in store after drafting QB Caleb Williams, WR Rome Odunze
Chicago Bears No. 1 draft pick quarterback Caleb Williams smiles as he listens to reporters during an NFL football news conference in Lake Forest, Ill., Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Catalonia is holding a regional election on Sunday whose outcome will reverberate in Spain’s national politics.
The ballot will be a test both for the strength of the separatist movement in the wealthy northeastern part of Spain and for the policies of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.
More than 5.7 million voters are eligible to choose lawmakers for the regional parliament based in Barcelona.
Separatists have held the regional government for more than a decade. But polling and a national election in July show that support for secession has shrunk somewhat since former regional president Carles Puigdemont led an illegal — and futile — breakaway bid in 2017.
Puigdemont is a fugitive from Spain's laws since he fled the country days after his failed secession attempt. But that isn't stopping him from running in this election as he campaigns from southern France. He has said that he will return to Spain when the newly elected lawmakers convene to choose a regional president at some point after the election.
By that time, Puigdemont hopes to be cleared of any legal troubles after Spain’s parliament gives final approval to a contentious amnesty for him and hundreds of other separatists.
The amnesty forms part of Sánchez’s intense push to reduce tensions in Catalonia that also included the pardoning of jailed high-profile separatists. If voters don't validate that by coming out in support of his Socialist party, then it would be a blow to the leader who heads a minority coalition in Madrid.
Sánchez has campaigned alongside Salvador Illa, the candidate of the Socialists. Illa won the most votes in a 2021 regional election but was unable to stop separatist Pere Aragonès from forming a government.
The election will feature a battle inside the separatist camp between Puigdemont’s conservative Together party and Aragonès’s Republican Left of Catalonia.
An upstart pro-secession, far-right party called Catalan Alliance, which rails against unauthorized immigration as well as the Spanish state, will hope to earn parliamentary representation.
A total of nine parties are running and no single one is expected to come close to winning enough votes to reach the absolute majority of 68 seats in the chamber. So deal-making will be critical.
A torn up poster showing partially a portrait of Catalan president and ERC candidate Pere Aragonès in downtown Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, May 9, 2024. About 6 million Catalans are casting ballots in a regional election that will test if Catalonia wants pro-independence leader Carles Puigdemont back or if the wealthy region has moved on to more pressing worries. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
People walk past electoral posters showing a portrait of fugitive former regional president Carles Puigdemont in downtown Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, May 9, 2024. About 6 million Catalans are casting ballots in a regional election that will test if Catalonia wants pro-independence leader Carles Puigdemont back or if the wealthy region has moved on to more pressing worries (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
Former regional president Carles Puigdemont poses for a photo during a campaign rally in Argelers, France, Wednesday, May 8, 2024. About 6 million Catalans are casting ballots in a regional election that will test if Catalonia wants pro-independence leader Carles Puigdemont back or if the wealthy region has moved on to more pressing worries. (AP Photo/Joan Mateu)
A voter prepares to cast his ballot for Catalonia's regional elections in La Roca del Vallès, north of Barcelona, Sunday May 12, 2024. About 6 million Catalans are casting ballots in a regional election that will test if Catalonia wants pro-independence leader Carles Puigdemont back or if the wealthy region has moved on to more pressing worries.(AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
A voter prepares to cast his ballot for Catalonia's regional elections in La Roca del Vallès, north of Barcelona, Sunday May 12, 2024. About 6 million Catalans are casting ballots in a regional election that will test if Catalonia wants pro-independence leader Carles Puigdemont back or if the wealthy region has moved on to more pressing worries.(AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
Socialist candidate Salvador Illa talks to journalists after voting at a polling station in La Roca del Valles, north of Barcelona, Sunday May 12, 2024. Catalonia is holding a regional election on Sunday whose outcome will be a test both for the strength of the separatist movement and for the policies of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.(AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
Socialist candidate Salvador Illa casts his ballot at a polling station in La Roca del Valles, north of Barcelona, Sunday May 12, 2024. Catalonia is holding a regional election on Sunday whose outcome will be a test both for the strength of the separatist movement and for the policies of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.(AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
A voter holds his puppy as he casts his ballot for Catalonia's regional elections in La Roca del Vallès, north of Barcelona, Sunday May 12, 2024. About 6 million Catalans are casting ballots in a regional election that will test if Catalonia wants pro-independence leader Carles Puigdemont back or if the wealthy region has moved on to more pressing worries.(AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
An early voter casts his ballot for Catalonia's regional elections in La Roca del Vallès, north of Barcelona, Sunday May 12, 2024. About 6 million Catalans are casting ballots in a regional election that will test if Catalonia wants pro-independence leader Carles Puigdemont back or if the wealthy region has moved on to more pressing worries. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
