Here’s why Caleb Williams is lucky the Chicago Bears have the No. 1 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft

Thanks to a stroke of genius by Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles, the Bears will soon call Caleb Williams’ name with the first overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. Poles’ decision to trade last year’s first pick to the Carolina Panthers set off a sequence of events that now has the Bears the lucky winner of the quarterback Powerball.

But they aren’t the only ones in this situation with good fortune. Caleb Williams is also pretty lucky.

Unlike most quarterbacks selected by bad teams first overall, Williams will enter the NFL primed for success. His supporting cast on offense is unlike anything a previous top-five quarterback has had to work with, and it’s why instant production is a reasonable expectation.

According to ESPN Stats and Info, Caleb Williams will be the first quarterback selected in the top five in NFL Draft history to play with multiple players who had at least 1,200 receiving yards in the previous season. For the Bears, that means DJ Moore and Keenan Allen, whom Poles acquired from the Los Angeles Chargers for a 2024 fourth-round pick.

Compare Williams’ situation to that of Bryce Young, last year’s top overall pick. Young’s No. 1 receiver was a decrepit Adam Thielen. Rookie Jonathan Mingo was supposed to be his WR2. Young struggled mightily as a result.

MORE: Who are the three best Chicago Bears first-round picks over the last 15 years?

What this means for the Chicago Bears’ 2024 NFL Draft plan for their second first-round pick, No. 9 overall, is anyone’s guess. Will they give Williams even more firepower via a top wide receiver prospect? Or will they upgrade his protection with Joe Alt or another offensive tackle?

No matter what Ryan Poles decides, he and the Bears have set up Caleb Williams to reach his immense ceiling.