Caleb Williams swiftly walked on stage, looked out and screamed "Woooo! Yeah!" Long-suffering Bears fans felt his joy. Williams is heading to the Windy City, aiming to become the franchise quarterback Chicago has sought for decades. "My goal is to get into as far as February as I can," Williams said, referring to playing in a Super Bowl for a team that hasn't hoisted the Lombardi Trophy in nearly 40 years. The 2022 Heisman Trophy winner from USC kicked off a historic NFL draft Thursday night that had five other teams selecting quarterbacks among the top 12 picks, setting a record with five in the top 10 and tying a record for the most in the first round. Nearly the entire first half of the draft was offensive players, the AP reports. The rest of the first five:
- The Washington Commanders also took a quarterback, 2023 Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels from LSU.
- The New England Patriots took North Carolina's Drake Maye, also a quarterback.
- The Arizona Cardinals snapped the early QB trend, choosing Ohio State wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr.
- The Los Angeles Chargers opened the Jim Harbaugh era by taking Notre Dame offensive tackle Joe Alt.
(The "first major surprise of the night"
came with the No. 8 pick.)