When the Chicago Bears went on the clock to the start the 2024 NFL Draft in Detroit last week, it was the first time in more than 75 years the Bears were making the No. 1 overall pick.
World War II was barely over the last time the Bears led off the draft. That was in 1947, and they selected halfback Bob Fenimore out of Oklahoma State.
Chicago previously had the No. 1 overall pick in 1941 and took Tom Harmon, a halfback out of Michigan.
So Caleb Williams is now the third player in the long, storied history of the Bears to be drafted No. 1 overall by the franchise.
But that only came to be after the Bears traded their shot at the No. 1 overall pick in last year’s draft to the Carolina Panthers. In that exchange, which included receiver DJ Moore and other picks going to Chicago, the Panthers gained the right to draft quarterback Bryce Young No. 1 overall in 2023, and the Bears got the Panthers’ first-round pick in 2024.
That turned out to be No. 1 — and, thus, Williams.
The Bears also had the No. 9 overall selection — which was their own pick — this year and nabbed receiver Rome Odunze out of Washington, giving the team high-end offensive weapons that Bears fans hope will light up scoreboards for years to come.
Granted, Bears fans have heard that before, but this year’s draft was almost one-of-a-kind in franchise annals in terms of high-end, first-round capital.
They took a consensus-No. 1 pick at quarterback, and they had multiple top-10 picks in one draft for just the eighth time in franchise history.
That gave the Bears the opportunity to select their cornerstones for the future. Of course, only time will tell if Williams and Odunze fulfill that lofty promise.
Meanwhile, for what it’s worth, here’s some history on how things have worked out for the Bears when they’ve had similar circ*mstances to this year’s draft in the past — the No. 1 overall pick, a top-10 pick, multiple first-round picks, or when they’re picked a quarterback at any point (look away from that one, Bears fans).
The NFL Draft dates back to 1936, so the Bears have selected in every one.
(NOTE: All information was compiled using the reference site pro-football-reference.com.)
1965 remains the gold standard
It’s hard to imagine any draft haul that could ever match what Chicago got in 1965.
The Bears had three top-10 picks that year and wound up with two legends back-to-back, selecting linebacker Dick Butkus out of Illinois at No. 3 and running back Gale Sayers out of Kansas at No. 4.
Both are enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame and are considered among the best of all-time at their positions.
And the Bears’ third top-10 pick that year was no slouch, either, though he only played one season for the team.
Chicago drafted defensive lineman Steve DeLong out of Tennessee with the No. 6 overall pick, but DeLong chose to sign with the San Diego Chargers of the rival American Football League. He played seven seasons for the Chargers, racking up 15.5 sacks and a Pro Bowl selection in 1969, before playing his final pro season with the Bears in 1972.
Needless to say, if Williams and Odunze wind up anything like the Butkus-Sayers first-round combo of 1965, the Bears will probably win many games in the coming years.
No. 1 overall
You can’t really compare Williams to the Bears’ previous No. 1 overall picks, since they came when the NFL was vastly different, and much smaller, than it is now.
Back then, college football was more popular that professional football in America, and it wasn’t uncommon for college stars to eschew pro football for careers that paid better, or to go into military service.
After going No. 1 overall in 1947, Fenimore played just 10 games with the Bears, rushing 53 times for 189 yards and a touchdown and adding 15 catches for 219 yards and two scores that season. But he was hampered by injuries and played just the one NFL season.
Harmon, meanwhile, led the nation in scoring at Michigan in 1939 and 1940 before the Bears picked him No. 1 overall in the 1941 draft (actually held in December 1940).
Harmon declined to sign with the Bears, however, because he wanted to pursue a career in radio and television (we told you it was a different time).
Like many of his generation in those years, Harmon would go into the military, enlisting in the United States Army Air Corps. He earned the Purple Heart and the Silver Star for his actions in Japanese-occupied China during World War II.
Harmon did wind up playing two seasons in the NFL, for the Los Angeles Rams in 1946-47, and then had a distinguished career as a sports broadcaster in Los Angeles. He’s a member of the College Football Hall of Fame.
Williams, obviously, is operating in an NFL environment nothing like the one Fenimore and Harmon were in when the Bears drafted them No. 1 overall in the 1940s.
In the top 10
When picking in the top 10 overall, the Bears — like any team — have come up with a mixed bag of Hall of Famers, Pro Bowlers, forgettable players and total busts.
Since the turn of the millennium, the Bears have drafted two players who wound up going into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, at least for now.
Linebacker Brian Urlacher was the team’s first-round pick (No. 9 overall) out of New Mexico in 2000. Kick returner Devin Hester didn’t go in the first round in 2006, but the Bears scooped him up out of Miami (Fla.) in the second round (No. 57 overall), which turned out to be one of the best draft decisions in franchise history.
In addition to Butkus and Sayers, other Bears first-rounders who became franchise legends and Hall of Famers include offensive lineman Jimbo Covert out of Pittsburgh in 1983 (No. 6 overall), defensive lineman Dan Hampton out of Arkansas in 1979 (No. 4 overall), running back Walter Payton — considered by many the greatest Bear of all-time, certainly on offense — out of Jackson State in 1975 (No. 4 overall) and tight end Mike Ditka out of Pittsburgh in 1961 (No. 5 overall).
“Iron Mike,” of course, achieved more fame with the Bears on the sidelines, though he was a great player before that for the Bears and later the Dallas Cowboys.
The Bears also drafted future Hall of Fame linebacker Chuck Howley in the first round in 1958, at No. 7 overall out of West Virginia. But he only spent two seasons with the Bears before having his best years in the 1960s with the Cowboys.
Other future Hall of Famers taken by the Bears in the first round were quarterbacks Bobby Layne out of Texas in 1949 (No. 3 overall) and Sid Luckman out of Columbia in 1939 (No. 2 overall). More on those two in a moment.
Interestingly enough, the Bears’ first-ever first-round pick, tackle Joe Stydahar, also wound up in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was taken No. 6 overall by the Bears in 1936, the first NFL Draft, and spent his entire nine-year career with Chicago.
Now, as for some notable recent top-10 busts — whether due to injury or underperformance —sure to make Bears fans ill, there’s receiver Kevin White out of West Virginia (No. 7 overall in 2015), receiver David Terrell out of Michigan (No. 8 overall in 2001) and running back Curtis Enis out of Penn State (No. 5 overall in 1998).
Before Williams, the last player from USC taken by the Bears in the first round was receiver Curtis Conway, who went No. 7 overall in 1993. He didn’t become a Hall of Famer, or even a Pro Bowler, but he at least had a decent career for Chicago, reaching 1,000 yards receiving in back-to-back seasons from 1995-96.
Another notable top-10 pick of recent vintage was running back Cedric Benson, taken No. 4 overall out of Texas in 2005.
While Benson can be considered a bust given his lofty expectations as a top-5 pick, he at least helped the Bears reach the Super Bowl during the 2006 season (although Bears fans would rather forget how that game turned out for Benson).
Benson resurrected his career in Cincinnati, recording three straight 1,000-yard rushing seasons with the Bengals from 2009-11.
Multiple first-rounders
As mentioned, the Bears had two top-10 picks this year for the eighth time in franchise history.
The last time they had two first-round picks of any kind was in 2003, one of which they used to select their last quarterback to start a Super Bowl.
After taking defensive end Michael Haynes out of Penn State with the No. 14 overall pick that year, the Bears used the No. 22 overall pick on quarterback Rex Grossman out of Florida.
Haynes was a bust, starting just four games and totaling 5.5 sacks in an NFL career that lasted only three seasons.
Grossman, on the other hand, could probably be considered a moderately successful draft pick, given that he was a late first-rounder.
No, he didn’t develop into a franchise quarterback, but he did make every start for the Bears under center in 2006 during that memorable run to the Super Bowl. Grossman passed for over 3,000 yards and 23 touchdowns that season and played reasonably well in leading Chicago to the NFC title.
Unfortunately, Grossman was turnover-prone, and that reared its ugly head in a driving Super Bowl rain in Miami, as he turned the ball over three times in the Bears’ loss to the Indianapolis Colts.
After that season, Grossman made just eight starts for the Bears over the next two years before finishing his NFL career elsewhere.
Aside from that legendary 1965 draft, the Bears hit big a couple other times when they had multiple first-round picks, grabbing key pieces to help construct the dominant 1985 team that went 18-1 and captured the franchise’s single Lombardi Trophy.
In 1979, Chicago picked two defensive linemen in the first round, Dan Hampton out of Arkansas at No. 4 overall and Al Harris out of Arizona State at No. 9 overall. In 1983, the Bears took Covert at No. 6 overall and receiver Willie Gault out of Tennessee at No. 18 overall.
Covert, Gault and Hampton all started on the Bears’ Super Bowl XX-winning team. Sadly, Harris missed that entire season when he sat out in a contract dispute. But he did have a solid 11-year NFL career with the Bears and Philadelphia Eagles.
Covert and Hampton, of course, are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The QB conundrum
As Bears fans know all too well, this is the position that has vexed the franchise for seemingly its whole existence.
But that isn’t entirely true.
Believe it or not, in the span of 11 drafts, the Bears got three quarterbacks that ended up in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The caveat, however, is that was all before 1950, and two of those quarterbacks had their best years elsewhere.
In the first round in 1948, the Bears ended up with Bobby Layne out of Texas at No. 3 overall. Layne was actually drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers, but he didn’t want to play there, so his rights were traded to the Bears (again, things were different back then).
But Layne was buried on the Bears’ depth chart behind Sid Luckman and Johnny Lujack, the Notre Dame legend who was drafted by the Bears at No. 4 overall in 1946. So Layne lasted just one season in Chicago and eventually wound up in Detroit, where he became a Hall of Famer with the Lions.
Then, in 1949, the Bears took George Blanda out of Kentucky with the No. 112 overall pick, which was then in the 12th round.
Blanda did have 10 good seasons with the Bears, but he’s probably more famous for his days in the American Football League — later the NFL’s American Football Conference — during the latter stages of his long career.
It’s Luckman who to this day remains the gold standard of the team’s paltry quarterback history.
Luckman was the Bears’ choice at No. 2 overall in 1939 out of Columbia, the Ivy League school in New York. Technically, George Halas got the Pittsburgh Pirates (later the Steelers) to draft Luckman and immediately trade his rights to Chicago.
Luckman earned five first-team Associated Press All-Pro honors, led the NFL in passing yards and passing touchdowns three times and quarterbacked the Bears to four NFL championships, in 1940, 1941, 1943 and 1946.
The Bears have certainly tried since Luckman to draft another franchise quarterback.
Since 1950, the Bears have taken eight quarterbacks in the first round: Bob Williams out of Notre Dame (No. 2 overall in 1951), Jim McMahon out of BYU (No. 5 overall in 1982), Jim Harbaugh out of Michigan (No. 26 overall in 1987), Cade McNown out of UCLA (No. 12 overall in 1999), Grossman in 2003, Mitchell Trubisky out of North Carolina (No. 2 overall in 2017), Justin Fields out of Ohio State (No. 11 overall in 2021) and now Caleb Williams in 2024.
Bob Williams played just three NFL seasons in the early 1950s, Harbaugh was a decent NFL quarterback but has been far more successful in coaching, McNown was a colossal bust, and Grossman, Trubisky and Fields all had flashes of success with the Bears but were shipped to other teams before too long.
Only McMahon really delivered. Although he was never one of the very best quarterbacks in the NFL during his time — in no small part due to injuries — he played 15 seasons in the league and led the Bears to their lone Super Bowl title.
(He also backed up Brett Favre when the Green Bay Packers won it all in the 1996 season, though McMahon famously wore his Bears jersey when the Packers visited the White House.)
So, all these years later, Luckman still has the most passing yards and passing touchdowns of any quarterback the Bears have ever drafted and kept.
No doubt, Sid Luckman is an NFL legend. But he was born while World War I was going on and died before the turn of the millennium.
This is the quarterback baggage that Caleb Williams brings with him to Chicago. But he probably doesn’t care about that.
Now he has the opportunity, as others have before him, to allow Bears fans to shed all that baggage, too.
If you want to see it all, here are the lists of the Bears’ all-time No. 1 overall draft picks, their top-10 overall draft picks, any time they’ve had multiple first-round draft picks, and any quarterback they’ve ever drafted:
NO. 1 OVERALL PICKS
2024: Caleb Williams, QB, USC. 1947: Bob Fenimore, HB, Oklahoma State. 1941: Tom Harmon, HB, Michigan.
TOP-10 OVERALL PICKS
2024: Caleb Williams, QB, USC (No. 1); Rome Udunze, WR, Washington (No. 9). 2023: Darnell Wright, OL, Tennessee, (No. 10).
2018: Roquan Smith, ILB, Georgia (No. 8). 2017: Mitchell Trubisky, QB, North Carolina (No. 2). 2016: Leonard Floyd, OLB, Georgia (No. 9). 2015: Kevin White, WR, West Virginia (No. 7).
2005: Cedric Benson, RB, Texas (No. 4). 2001: David Terrell, WR, Michigan (No. 8). 2000: Brian Urlacher, LB, New Mexico (No. 9), Pro Football Hall of Famer.
1998: Curtis Enis, RB, Penn State (No. 5). 1993: Curtis Conway, WR, USC (No. 7). 1990: Mark Carrier, DB, USC (No. 6).
1983: Jimbo Covert, OT, Pittsburgh (No. 6), Pro Football Hall of Famer. 1982: Jim McMahon, QB, BYU (No. 5).
1979: Dan Hampton, DE, Arkansas (No. 4), Pro Football Hall of Famer; Al Harris, DE, Arizona State, (No. 9). 1976: Dennis Lick, OT, Wisconsin (No. 8). 1975: Walter Payton, RB, Jackson State (No. 4), Pro Football Hall of Famer. 1974: Waymond Bryant, LB, Tennessee State (No. 4). 1973: Wally Chambers, DT, Eastern Kentucky (No. 8). 1972: Lionel Antoine, OT, Southern Illinois (No. 3).
1967: Loyd Phillips, DE, Arkansas (No. 10). 1965: Dick Butkus, LB, Illinois (No. 3), Pro Football of Famer; Gale Sayers, RB, Kansas (No. 4), Pro Football Hall of Famer; Steve DeLong, DE, Tennessee (No. 6). 1962: Ronnie Bull, RB, Baylor (No. 7). 1961: Mike Ditka, TE, Pittsburgh (No. 5), Pro Football Hall of Famer. 1960: Roger Davis, G, Syracuse (No. 7).
1959: Don Clark, B, Ohio State (No. 7). 1958: Chuck Howley, LB, West Virginia (No. 7), Pro Football Hall of Famer. 1956: Menan (Tex) Schriewer, E, Texas (No. 10). 1954: Stan Wallace, DB, Illinois (No. 6). 1953: Billy Anderson, DB, Compton (Calif.) CC (No. 6). 1952: Jim Dooley, B, Miami (Fla.) (No. 8). 1951: Bob Williams, QB, Notre Dame (No. 2); Billy Stone, B, Bradley (No. 10). 1950: Chuck Hunsinger, HB, Florida (No. 3); Fred Morrison, FB, Ohio State (No. 10).
1949: Bobby Layne, QB, Texas (No. 3), Pro Football Hall of Famer; Max Bumgardner, DE, Texas (No. 10). 1947: Bob Fenimore, HB, Oklahoma State (No. 1). 1946: Johnny Lujak, Notre Dame (No. 4). 1945: Don Lund, B, Michigan (No. 7). 1944: Ray Evans, TB, Kansas (No. 9). 1943: Bob Steuber, HB, DePauw (No. 9). 1942: Frankie Albert, QB, Stanford (No. 10). 1941: Tom Harmon, HB, Michigan (No. 1); Norm Standlee, FB, Stanford (No. 3); Don Scott, B, Ohio State (No. 9). 1940: Bulldog Turner, C, Hardin-Simmons (No. 7), Pro Football Hall of Famer.
1939: Sid Luckman, Columbia, QB, (No. 2), Pro Football Hall of Famer; Bill Osmanski, FB, Holy Cross (No. 6). 1938: Joe Gray, B, Oregon State (No. 10). 1937: Les McDonald, E, Nebraska (No. 8). 1936: Joe Stydahar, T, West Virginia (No. 6), Pro Football Hall of Famer.
YEARS WITH MULTIPLE FIRST-ROUND PICKS
2024: Caleb Williams, QB, USC (No. 1); Rome Udunze, WR, Washington (No. 9). 2003: Michael Haynes, DE, Penn State (No. 14); Rex Grossman, QB, Florida (No. 22).
1989: Donnell Woolford, DB, Clemson (No. 11); Trace Armstrong, DE, Florida (No. 12). 1988: Brad Muster, RB, Stanford (No. 23); Wendell Davis, LSU, WR (No. 27). 1983: Jimbo Covert, OT, Pittsburgh (No. 6), Pro Football Hall of Famer; Willie Gault, Tennessee, WR (No. 18).
1979: Dan Hampton, DE, Arkansas (No. 4), Pro Football Hall of Famer; Al Harris, DE, Arizona State, (No. 9). 1974: Waymond Bryant, LB, Tennessee State (No. 4); Dave Gallagher, DE, Michigan (No. 20). 1972: Lionel Antoine, OT, Southern Illinois (No. 3); Craig Clemons, DB, Iowa (No. 12).
1965: Dick Butkus, LB, Illinois (No. 3), Pro Football of Famer; Gale Sayers, RB, Kansas (No. 4), Pro Football Hall of Famer; Steve DeLong, DE, Tennessee (No. 6).
1951: Bob Williams, QB, Notre Dame (No. 2); Billy Stone, B, Bradley (No. 10); Gene Schroeder, E, Virginia (No. 12). 1950: Chuck Hunsinger, HB, Florida (No. 3); Fred Morrison, FB, Ohio State (No. 10).
1949: Bobby Layne, QB, Texas (No. 3), Pro Football Hall of Famer; Max Bumgardner, DE, Texas (No. 10). 1947: Bob Fenimore, HB, Oklahoma State (No. 1); Don Kindt, DB, Wisconsin (No. 11). 1941: Tom Harmon, HB, Michigan (No. 1); Norm Standlee, FB, Stanford (No. 3); Don Scott, B, Ohio State (No. 9).
1939: Sid Luckman, Columbia, QB, (No. 2), Pro Football Hall of Famer; Bill Osmanski, FB, Holy Cross (No. 6).
QUARTERBACKS DRAFTED
2024: Caleb Williams, USC (Round 1, No. 1). 2021: Justin Fields, Ohio State (Round 1, No. 11).
2017: Mitchell Trubisky, North Carolina (Round 1, No. 2). 2014: David Fales, San Jose State (Round 6, No. 183). 2011: Nathan Enderle, Idaho (Round 5, No. 160). 2010: Dan LeFevour, Central Michigan (Round 6, No. 181).
2005: Kyle Orton, Purdue (Round 4, No. 106). 2004: Craig Krenzel, Ohio State (Round 5, No. 148). 2003: Rex Grossman, Florida (Round 1, No. 22).
1999: Cade McNown, UCLA (Round 1, No. 12). 1998: Moses Moreno, Colorado State (Round 7, No. 232). 1992: Will Furrer, Virginia Tech (Round 4, No. 107). 1991: Paul Justin, Arizona State (Round 7, No. 190).
1989: Brent Snyder, Arizona State (Round 7, No. 192). 1987: Jim Harbaugh, Michigan (Round 1, No. 26). 1982: Jim McMahon, BYU (Round 1, No. 5). 1981: Tim Clifford, Indiana (Round 10, No. 260). 1980: Turk Schonert, Stanford (Round 9, No. 242).
1975: Bob Avellini, Maryland (Round 6, No. 135). 1974: Alan Chadwick, East Tennessee State (Round 8, No. 186); Joe Barnes, Texas Tech (Round 13, No. 316); Craig Holland, Texas-Arlington (Round 17, No. 420). 1973: Gary Huff, Florida State (Round 2, No. 33). 1972: Jim Fassel, Long Beach State (Round 7, No. 167). 1971: Buddy Lee, LSU (Round 7, No. 167); Ron Maciejowski, Ohio State (Round 15, No. 376). 1970: Bobby Cutburth, Oklahoma State (Round 6, No. 133).
1969: Bobby Douglass, Kansas (Round 2, No. 41). 1967: Virgil Carter, BYU (Round 6, No. 142). 1966: Ron Meyer, South Dakota State (Round 7, No. 102). 1965: Tom LaFramboise, Louisville (Round 17, No. 228). 1964: Larry Rakestraw, Georgia (Round 8, No. 112). 1963: Dave Mathieson, Washington State (Round 6, No. 181). 1960: Don Meredith, SMU (Round 3, No. 32); Dick Norman, Stanford (Round 5, No. 57).
1957: Ronnie Knox, UCLA (Round 3, No. 37). 1954: Jim Haluska, Wisconsin (Round 30, No. 354). 1953: Zeke Bratkowski, Georgia (Round 2, No. 17); Bill Brehany, VMI (Round 30, No. 354). 1952: Ed Brown, San Francisco (Round 6, No. 68); Tommy O’Connell, Illinois (Round 18, No. 212). 1951: Bob Williams, Notre Dame (Round 1, No. 2). 1950: Steve Romanik, Villanova (Round 3, No. 36).
1949: George Blanda, Kentucky (Round 12, No. 119), Pro Football Hall of Famer. 1948: Bobby Layne, Texas (Round 1, No. 3), Pro Football Hall of Famer; Norm Cox, TCU (Round 31, No. 291). 1946: Johnny Lujak, Notre Dame (Round 1, No. 4). 1945: Nick Sacrinty, Wake Forest (Round 17, No. 172). 1944: Buckets Hirsch, Northwestern (Round 16, No. 161). 1942: Frankie Albert, Stanford (Round 1, No. 10). 1941: Charlie O’Rourke, Boston College (Round 5, No. 39); Bill Glenn, Eastern Illinois (Round 17, No. 159); Jack Odle, TCU (Round 20, No. 188). 1940: Young Bussey, LSU (Round 20, No. 187).
1939: Sid Luckman, Columbia (Round 1, No. 2), Pro Football Hall of Famer.; Anton Stolfa, Luther (Round 14, No. 126); Solly Sherman, Chicago (Round 18, No. 166).
