As the 2024 NFL Draft draws nearer, there are still some questions about what the Chicago Bears will do with the number one overall pick in this year’s draft. Most experts believe that the Bears will take USC Trojans quarterback Caleb Williams with the top pick. While that is the likely scenario, Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders wonders if that is the right bet for Chicago to make.
While a guest on SiriusXM Mad Dog radio, the buffaloes headman addressed Williams, joining the bears while pondering whether or not he is equipped to handle the conditions of the Windy City.
“Let me tell you something that I have a problem with: This kid can flat-out play. I think he’s the best one on the board this year, for sure. He’s coming from California for the last couple of years, right? And went to Oklahoma. That’s not terribly cold,” Sanders said via Pro Football Talk.
Williams took the college football world by storm in 2022, totaling nearly 5,000 total yards – 4,537 passing and 382 rushing – and 52 touchdowns to win the Heisman Trophy as a sophomore. His numbers dropped to 3,633 yards and 30 touchdowns with 142 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns as a junior, but he still remained the consensus top prospect in the 2024 NFL Draft.
“Chicago’s cold, man. You gotta think about that kind of stuff when you’re taking a young man. Like see, when you take a guy from Ohio State, and you bring him to Chicago; OK, I could understand that. But from California to Chicago? Not only that, they added what? One or two more games in the NFL. Seventeen games. Come on, man. You gotta factor in that stuff. That stuff matters.”
Sanders is not the only big name in college football who questions Williams to the Bears this year. ESPN’s Kirk Herstreit also questions that selection, but for an entirely different reason.
It is worth noting that while Williams has played collegially in the Southwest and West Coast, at Oklahoma and at USC, he is originally an East Coast kid from Washington, DC. And although it may not be as windy as Chicago, the winters in that region can be unforgiving.
It remains to be seen whether Williams will be selected by Chicago with the top pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. But in terms of weather, although it has been some time since he’s had to brave a winter up north, the former USC quarterback might be a little better prepared for the Windy City weather than Sanders might believe.
On3’s Nick Schultz contributed to this story
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