Chicago Bears DVOA, Stats, & NFL Rankings

Chicago Bears rookie quarterback Caleb Williams, the No. 1 overall pick in this year's NFL draft out of USC, has looked like a rookie in the early going at organized team activities this week. The Bears are hoping that their strong defense will prepare the rookie QB and help him improve by the time he's facing other teams in games that matter. The Bears are installing a new offense under coordinator Shane Waldron and have a rookie signal-caller learning the speed and intricacies at the next level, so it's not exactly a surprise that he's struggling early on. Williams also hasn't had first-rounder Rome Odunze or Keenan Allen to throw to. Odunze is sitting out with a minor injury. Fantasy managers shouldn't read too much into Williams' early struggles against a strong defense in voluntary offseason workouts, but it's certainly worth noting.

Chicago Bears quarterback and No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams will begin his career at home against the Tennessee Titans, according to Jordan Schultz of Bleacher Report. The former USC star will have no shortage of weapons to work with to begin his career, so he could get out to a hot start with Keenan Allen, DJ Moore, and Rome Oduzne out wide. Tennessee was a middle-of-the-pack team against the pass last season, but the organization signed former Baltimore Ravens defensive backs coach Dennard Wilson as their defensive coordinator and added cornerbacks L'Jarius Sneed and Chidobe Awuzie to the back end of the defense. Overall, it should be a great first test for one of the highest-regarded quarterback prospects of the 21st century.

Chicago Bears running back D'Andre Swift will be taking over the team's lead running back in 2024 after he signed with the team minutes into the start of free agency in early March. "He's exciting to watch, man. That guy, he's got so much ability. He's fast, he can make guys miss and what we're excited about now is just opening up the passing game with the backs. He's got that opportunity to have that one-on-one matchup out of the backfield. We can get him out on empty (formation). We do a lot of empty stuff here, too, so we can move this guy all around. He can win from any spot," RBs coach Chad Morton said. When Morton coached in Seattle in 2023, Kenneth Walker III had 219 carries for 905 yards, with Zach Charbonnet carrying the ball 108 times for 462 yards. Swift is surely intriguing as a pass-catcher out of the backfield, but he's inevitably going to lose touches to Khalil Herbert and Roschon Johnson, and the Bears also have plenty of receivers that will command targets.

Chicago Bears head coach Matt Eberflus officially named rookie quarterback Caleb Williams as the team's starting QB on Friday at rookie minicamp. Everyone already knew that Williams would be Chicago's starting signal-caller when they selected him first overall in last month's NFL draft out of USC. The path was cleared for the 22-year-old when they traded Justin Fields to the Pittsburgh Steelers earlier in the offseason. There's always a learning curve for rookies that start right out of the gates in the NFL, but Williams may have the best chance for immediate success given all the weapons he has around him, especially in the passing attack. The trio of DJ Moore, Keenan Allen and rookie first-rounder Rome Odunze -- not to mention tight end Cole Kmet -- will help Williams immensely. As far as his fantasy value for Year 1 in the NFL, Williams will be on the QB2 map with upside.

The Chicago Bears signed undrafted rookie quarterback Austin Reed on Thursday, according to NFL.com. Reed had a monster college career, passing for 8,084 yards, 71 touchdowns, and 22 interceptions in his two seasons at Western Kentucky. Before his move to WKU, he threw for 7,464 yards, 78 touchdowns, and 20 interceptions in two years at West Florida and won a Division II National Championship. The 24-year-old spent six years in college and was not among the 11 quarterbacks selected in the 2024 NFL Draft, but he'll now have an outside chance of competing with Tyson Bagent for the QB2 job behind No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams.