Special to Sports News Highlights

(SNH) – There might be more pressure on new Bears quarterback Caleb Williams than any other No. 1 overall quarterback in NFL history.

Typically, the No. 1 pick belongs to the team with the worst record in the NFL. While there is still considerable pressure to be the face of the franchise and turn the team’s fortunes around, there is an expected learning curve and an understanding it might take some time.

Chicago is in a much different situation.

“One, the infrastructure has to be there, and I think we’ve done that part to have the talent around our quarterback now,” Bears GM Ryan Poles said. “I think the other thing is our entire organization is going to have to be on the same page on how we handle this, how we develop Caleb. But I also say I think we have a really good approach with all of the players and I think that’s maybe different than it was in the past.”

The Bears have been one of the most active teams this offseason as they’ve prepared to give Williams the best opportunity to succeed.

They traded for Chargers Pro Bowl wide Keenan Allen, got a versatile running back in D’Andre Swift in free agency and on Thursday drafted Washington wide receiver Rome Odunze with the ninth overall pick.

Those three weapons will be a welcomed addition to receiver DJ Moore, who the Bears received in a trade with the Panthers for last season’s No. 1 pick, which resulted in the Bears getting the first pick despite going 7-10 last season.

“Hell of an athlete,” Allen said of Williams. “Obviously, he can make tremendous plays with his feet, with his arm. Looks like he knows the game really well. Really good.”

There is no denying the potential in Williams. He was the 2022 Heisman Trophy winner after all and played under Lincoln Riley at Oklahoma and USC, who has produced other quarterbacks to the NFL like Jalen Hurts, Kyler Murray and Baker Mayfield.

But Chicago got rid of Justin Fields, who was starting to realize his potential and won over fans, in a trade to Pittsburgh.

With the pieces the Bears have added on offense and going with Williams over Fields, it’s not a stretch that Chicago expects Williams to be better than Fields ever was for the Bears. But it doesn’t end with being better than Fields. He needs to be better than Jordan Love and the Packers.

In Love’s first season as the starter, he threw for 4,159 yards, 32 touchdowns and 11 interceptions while dismantling Dallas in the playoffs before falling in a nailbiter to San Francisco.

No Bears quarterback has ever put up those kinds of numbers in the long history of the franchise. The Bears haven’t beaten Green Bay since 2018 and hasn’t won at Lambeau since 2015.

Green Bay is certainly not trending backwards after last season and have already added All-Pro running back Josh Jacobs to go with a young and talented receiving core and are expected to sign Love to a long-term deal later this offseason.

“We are really excited to build around him,” Packers GM Gutekunst said.

The Bears are also trying to chase down the Lions, who are the defending NFC North champions and came within a fourth-quarter collapse of being in the Super Bowl last season.

Detroit locked up wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown and lineman Penei Sewell long-term and used a draft pick in Round 1 to shore up the secondary with Alabama’s Terrion Arnold.

“I don’t want anybody to think that this was a one shot, Cinderella, magical journey that just happened,” Lions GM Brad Holmes said. “No, it’s real. This is exactly what was supposed to happen.

“I understand that based on history from what’s happened in the past, I understand you have a season like this, it’s easy to feel like this was kind of a one shot, magical, lucky, cute story, which I’m tired of hearing. It was none of that.”

With the Lions and Packers in the division, along with Minnesota who replaced Kirk Cousins with J.J. McCarthy and Sam Darnold along with a strong core of receivers, the NFC North won’t be welcoming for a new quarterback.

“I don’t think of it that way,” Williams. “That may be the narrative. For me, I handle my job.”

Poles’ job is to continue to help Williams, which means bolstering the offensive line which has struggled in front of Fields previously.

Chicago only has two more picks: one in the third round and another in the fourth. It’ll surely be looking offensive line with one of those two selections.

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