In a world where the 2024 NFL Draft did not include a quarterback in Caleb Williams, who has been billed as a generational quarterback for much of the past two seasons, North Carolina's Drake Maye would likely be widely viewed as the consensus first overall pick.
Williams continues to say all the right things, and there continues to be guided reporting that the Bears will take him at the top of the draft, but until his name is officially read, there is a scenario that exists where the team trades both the first overall pick in the draft and Justin Fields.
In that scenario, Maye would be a possibility for the Bears.
Many Bears fans have refused even to consider the possibility that the Bears could take Maye in the draft. With many fans still haunted by the failures of Mitch Trubisky, a former North Carolina product, the idea of Maye being the quarterback for the Bears has a sense of déjà vu to it.
Drake Maye has seen the fear that Chicago Bears fans have.
Comparing Maye to Trubisky is a lazy thought exercise that the quarterback prospect was asked about on Friday while speaking with reporters.
Drake Maye asked about Bears fans being worried about drafting another North Carolina QB after Mitch Trubisky: “I think people analyze the helmet more than the player.”
— Josh Schrock (@Schrock_And_Awe) March 1, 2024
The comparisons between Maye and Trubisky stop at the fact that both were once starting quarterbacks for the North Carolina Tar Heels.
Maye was a two-year starter at North Carolina and has the arm talent that far exceeds where Trubisky was in 2017 after being selected by the Bears.
The Bears did meet with Maye at the NFL Scouting Combine this past week and there is a belief that more visits will be had at North Carolina's Pro Day and a pre-draft visit to Halas Hall. Even if the Bears are leaving Indianapolis with the belief that they are taking Williams, it is in the team's best interest to go through the vetting process of all the top quarterback prospects.