The Washington Commanders couldn't have drafted Caleb Williams if they wanted to.
The Chicago Bears made Williams the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. The Commanders were picking second, so the USC star was off the board, and they were left to take LSU's Jayden Daniels, the Heisman Trophy winner.
The Commanders certainly can't be complaining right now.
Daniels won Rookie of the Year. He's accurate and mobile and already a star QB.
Williams can still be special, too, but Daniels has been better in the early going.
They'll play for the second time on Monday Night Football, after Daniels won the meeting in their rookie season on a last-second Hail Mary.
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Why did the Bears draft Caleb Williams over Jayden Daniels?
This, even at the time, had a feeling of the Patrick Mahomes effect.
At USC, Williams made exhilarating plays look routine, throwing off-platform and from all sorts of arm angles and spots on the field.
That's a lot of what Mahomes did early in his career to become an immediate superstar for the Kansas City Chiefs.
Williams is also a lot bigger than Daniels, and running QBs like Daniels are often viewed as a bigger injury risk, which would count as a knock against him compared to Williams.
Why has Jayden Daniels been a winning draft pick so far over Caleb Williams?
Daniels was more consistent, accurate and reliable as a rookie.
He put up big plays, too. He ran around defenders often. He's exciting.
But he's also going to take care of the simple stuff that good quarterbacks need to do.
The Bears' offensive line was brutal in 2024, which didn't help Williams.
Daniels protects the football and makes flashy plays. At least as a rookie, Williams didn't do both of those things.
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Should the Chicago Bears have drafted Jayden Daniels?
That's a question that we'll never be able to answer for sure. There's no guarantee these QBs would've performed or developed the same way if they started in the opposite spot.
The Bears drafted Williams and soon took Rome Odunze at No. 9 overall in 2024, too, to get him an immediate WR to grow up with side by side.
They've continued to invest in the offense around Williams, including the hiring of offensive mastermind coach Ben Johnson. They're doing everything they can to help him succeed.
If Daniels was in Chicago in 2024, it may have been bumpy for him, too, and vice versa for Williams.
There are a lot of years left. These guys will surely have more than a few more games against one another.
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