The start of 2024 NFL season is just one week away, and in an odd twist, the Chicago Bears are projected to be one of the league’s most exciting and highly-anticipated teams this year. All of us Bears fans know, this is abnormal compared to how things have been for, well, let’s say a few decades now. But this year? This year feels significantly different.
For the first time in a quite some time, there is legitimate optimism in Chicago. Not just for what the 2024 season could produce, but even more so for what the next handful of years could look like. For now, we’ll leave the future on hold. Let’s stick to six bold predictions for the Chicago Bears’ 2024 season.
Ryan Poles will win NFL Executive of the Year
At this point, it’s no secret that Ryan Poles has drastically re-worked the Bears roster after inheriting a mess back in 2022. After all, the Poles publicity tour has received an extended spotlight thanks to the Bears’ presence on HBO’s Hard Knocks. But just in case you need a quick refresher, this is what Poles has done since March:
- Within the first five days of free agency, the Bears signed starters D’Andre Swift, Kevin Byard and Coleman Shelton, along with important depth pieces in Jonathan Owens, Gerald Everett, Amen Ogbongmiga and Matt Pryor.
- In that same five day window, the Bears traded 4th and 5th round picks for Keenan Allen and Ryan Bates.
- In the 1st Round of the 2024 NFL Draft, the Bears selected Caleb Williams (1st overall) and Rome Odunze (9th overall). By all accounts, these were the two players at the top of Chicago’s draft board. Over the next two days, the Bears also added a potential future starting tackle (Kiran Amegadije), an All-American punter (Tory Taylor) and a promising edge rusher (Austin Booker) whose primary pro comparison is Raiders star Maxx Crosby.
- Since training camp began, the Bears have made two more moves around the margins, adding Darrell Taylor from Seattle and Chris Williams from Cleveland to solidify depth along the defensive line.
So, yeah, that’s a whole lot, right? The days where Andy Dalton was the big prize of the offseason are long gone, thank goodness, and now Poles finds himself in a position where as long as the on-field results are there, he’ll be given the lion’s share of the credit for the success, and with that, he’ll become the 4th Bears general manager — George Halas, Michael McCaskey and Ryan Pace — to be named the NFL’s Executive of the Year.
Montez Sweat will record at least 13 sacks
If this seems like a somewhat random number of sacks to settle on, let me explain the method to my madness… In Chicago Bears history, Robert Quinn and Richard Dent are the only two players who have had more than 13 sacks in a season. Khalil Mack got to 12.5 in his first season with the Bears (though, I will say, Mack was so dominant during the 2018 season, this number was greatly inflated in my mind). New Pro Football Hall of Famers Julius Peppers and Steve McMichael topped out at 11.5 in 1988 and 2012 respectively.
Last season, while splitting time between the Washington Commanders and Chicago Bears, Sweat recorded 12.5 sacks, the most he’s had in his five-year NFL career, so projecting him for 13 sacks doesn’t require a huge stretch of the imagination. Given the fact that the Bears should have a little more pass-rushing juice in 2024 than they did in 2023, it’s reasonable to think that Sweat will see less attention than he did last season, and benefit greatly from that.
Caleb Williams will win Offensive Rookie of the Year
Pop quiz, hotshot: Who is the only Chicago Bear to be named the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year? That would be running back Anthony “A-Train” Thomas, who rushed for a career-high 1,173 yards and 7 touchdowns in his first season with the Bears in 2001. Thomas was out of the league by 2007, and out of Chicago after the 2004 season, so it’s only right that Caleb Williams, who Bears fans hope will be in Chicago for the next 20 years, changes that.
Caleb Williams is certainly in pole position to win the award, given the tremendous supporting cast he has in place around him, and you have to imagine that voters would be eager to give their vote to Williams so long as he has the type of season required to win the award. Looking at the last five quarterbacks to win Rookie of the Year — CJ Stroud, Justin Herbert, Kyler Murray, Dak Prescott and Robert Griffin III — that means Williams will need to be in the neighborhood of 3,800 passing yards, 23 touchdowns and nine wins. That feels very doable.
In fact, here’s a bonus Caleb Williams prediction: I think Williams becomes the first Bears quarterback to throw for 4,000 yards in a season.
Tory Taylor will be named an All-Pro
Caleb Williams may win Rookie of the Year, but Australian rookie punter Tory Taylor could very well one-up his quarterback in this regard this year. There’s a distinct possibility that “The Crocodile Punter” will be walking into the NFL as the best at his position, and his rookie campaign will prove just that. Sure, maybe the Bears won’t be punting as often as they have in the past, but mark my words, Tory Taylor will swing at least one game in Chicago’s favor this year.
Matt Eberflus (and his beard) will be on the cover of GQ Magazine
Wait a second, is that Matt Eberflus, or Ryan Reynolds in ten years? I truly cannot tell.
The Bears will return to the Playoffs
In reality, the Bears postseason drought has only been three years, but it feels much longer than that because 2020 was such a forgettable outing, and 2018 was such a heartbreak that us Bears fans have tried to block it out of our minds. And let’s just be honest, the way things went down in the NFC Championship against Green Bay a decade and a half ago wasn’t exactly a shining moment in Bears history either. Bottom line, this franchise has had plenty of heartbreak and even more moments of irrelevancy over the past decade and a half, and it’s time to change that.
Yes, the Bears play in a stacked NFC North division. Yes, the NFC in total is improving. And yes, Caleb Williams is a rookie. But the pieces are here to reach the postseason, and even if their stay in the Playoffs isn’t a long one, it’s a sign of what’s to come over the next decade in the Windy City.
The post Chicago Bears bold predictions for 2024 NFL season appeared first on ClutchPoints.
0 Mga Komento