The NFL season is officially here, more or less, and that means tons of silly predictions. And these silly predictions are obviously much more legitimate than last week's silly predictions, because last week's silly predictions were all just preseason nonsense. Now that real football is being played, it's time to take these seriously.
The Athletic knows this, and they responded by putting together a big list of "intel" that kinda just reads as predictions. (But they're predictions based on intel!!) It literally opens with a one-sentence explainer about how many sources they have, so rest assured these opinions are also shared by mid-level staffers and a handful of fired coordinators. There was an interesting nugget about the Bears, though, so we'll let it slide this week – there's plenty of time for snark in Week 2 and beyond.
Caleb Williams' own teammate could be his biggest competition for Rookie of the Year
Here's some of The Athletic's intel on the Bears:
"Don’t be surprised if wide receiver Rome Odunze challenges quarterback Caleb Williams for Offensive Rookie of the Year. Both have looked like big-time draft hits in the early going, though Williams may understandably struggle with consistency — and perhaps worse if the offensive line doesn’t hold up."
Just to needlessly be a prick for one last moment, I'm not entirely sure where the intel is here? Don't be surprised if one top 10 pick beats another top 10 pick in the Rookie of the Year race! Like the piece mentions, reports out of Bears camp have been overwhelmingly positive for both, but anyone who's spent 15 minutes on Twitter over the last month could tell you that. The entire blurb is basically a vehicle to link to another profile on Bears' assistant GM Ian Cunningham, but I certainly can't knock that – the game's the game.
There are definitely worse outcomes than "Caleb Williams comes in second to Rome Odunze for a postseason award," so I imagine Bears fans will happily take this intel. But don't be surprised! You heard it here second.