It's been a while since there's been this much hype around a Chicago Bears football team.
Heck, it's been even longer since there's been this much hype around a Bears quarterback.
Justin Fields had plenty of hype surrounding him, but that also came as being the fourth quarterback off the board in his respective draft. But, Caleb Williams?
Williams' situation is vastly different. The Bears took him first overall, and he comes in as maybe the best quarterback prospect since Andrew Luck. But, does the hype alone warrant Williams' spot any higher on an NFC North power rankings list than his veteran peers?
Caleb Williams will have to wait his turn to be atop the NFC North quarterback rankings, but it won't take long
4. J.J. McCarthy, Vikings
This should go without saying, but J.J. McCarthy deserves to be last on this list. He's a rookie without having taken a single NFL snap, and he happens to be playing in the same division as the draft's top pick this year.
That's not to say McCarthy won't be a good player, but here's the thing: he's not even guaranteed the starting job.
We're only putting McCarthy on this list for the sake of it being a post-draft topic. The fact of the matter is, the starting job currently belongs to Sam Darnold.
Now, if you were to swap McCarthy for Darnold, here, I might still argue that Darnold would be last on this list. And sure, that would completely contradict the point of a rookie being underserving of a place above a veteran. Yet, it wouldn't feel right putting Darnold above Williams.
3. Caleb Williams, Bears
It is pretty easy to put Caleb Williams above J.J. McCarthy, considering he was the no. 1 overall pick. But, putting Williams ahead of any veterans who have been around already? That would be unfair. Now, I wouldn't be mad if some Bears fans wanted to try and make a case for putting Williams above Jared Goff or Jordan Love.
However, the fact of the matter is, both Goff and Love have done something that no other Bears quarterback has ever done before, and they each did it just last season: throw for 4,000 passing yards and 30 passing touchdowns.
Like McCarthy, Williams is still a rookie, so it would be unfair to put him above the veterans.
Now, come Week 8, if Williams has thrown for 2,100 yards and 18 touchdowns, maybe we'll be talking about how he's having the best season of all NFC North quarterbacks. That's not completely out of the question, even though it sounds like a pipe dream to a lot of Bears fans.
Those fans better start coming to grips with the fact that tides are changing, though. Williams is going to be as good as advertised. It's only a matter of time before we all truly realize that.
2. Jared Goff, Lions
Last season, Jared Goff ended up having one of the best years of his career. He threw for the third-most yards he's ever thrown for with 4,575 while finishing with the second-most touchdown passes he's ever thrown (30).
What made last year especially good for Goff was the fact that he ended with his highest-ever completion percentage at 67.3. For a guy who was supposed to be more of a bridge, or even a "throw-in" from the Matthew Stafford trade, Goff has been far better than anyone would have anticipated.
One could even argue that the Lions won that trade, even though the Rams won a Super Bowl with Stafford. Goff has given the Lions their franchise quarterback and exactly what they need in order to be able to build other positions the right way, through the draft.
Since this is more of a "what have you done for me lately?" type of league, Goff still checks in at no. 2 on our power rankings, here. It's hard not to put this next guy no. 1 after what he did last season. However, as we'll continue to say, things are going to change in the coming years.
1. Jordan Love, Packers
As painful as this might be, we have to give credit where it's due. Looking at what Jordan Love did in his first full season as a starter for Green Bay, he surpassed all expectations. His final line was just a bit better than Goff's was for Detroit, and he also led his team to a playoff victory. It's hard to argue with the performance Love put on throughout the 2023 season.
It didn't start as well as Love would have liked, as he and the Packers endured a 4-game losing streak when they dropped to 2-5. In those four losses, Love threw just four touchdown passes to seven interceptions. However, he ended the season throwing multiple touchdown passes in eight of his last nine games.
Love ended the 2023 season throwing for 4,159 yards, 32 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. He also ran for 247 yards and four scores.
The passing yardage and touchdowns would both qualify as franchise records in Chicago, of course, which no Bears fan likes to hear. But, again, we must give credit where credit is due.
Now, it's only a matter of time before Williams overtakes Love as the best quarterback in the division. Here's to hoping it's sooner rather than later.