While the Chicago Bears likely have no regrets over taking Caleb Williams and Rome Odunze in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft, there is no question that there were other rookie quarterbacks and wide receivers found more success last season than Williams and Odunze.
Given that reality, Marcus Mosher of The 33rd Team examined how the Bears may have altered their selections in the 2024 NFL Draft if there was a do-over.
Did the Chicago Bears get the 2024 NFL Draft wrong?
In the do-over, Mosher has the Bears taking Jayden Daniels with the first-overall selection, and then following up the selection with wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. at No. 9.
This would be a dynamic pairing considering Daniels and Thomas already played together at LSU. Daniels had an excellent rookie season, and Thomas had some of his best performances with Mac Jones, so that tells you that he probably would have been fine wherever he landed.
Williams was taken second overall, so it is not like they are saying it is a massive miss; just that it is hard to ignore a player who turned a laughingstock of a franchise into an NFC Championship contender. On the other hand, this draft didn't see Odunze get taken until the 27th overall pick. The two receivers who went ahead of him, along with Thomas, Ladd McConkey, and Xavier Worthy, all went ahead of Odunze in this draft.
On one hand, you could argue that Odunze was in a tough spot with Keenan Allen and D.J. Moore. On the other, are you seriously saying that Thomas would not have ascended over Allen to the point where it was not a debate about who should get the ball?
Time will tell, but right now, it looks like the Bears got it right in pairing a quarterback with a pass catcher he wanted in the draft last year. However, they may have got the wrong combination.