The Chicago Bears are building a foundation for a successful future. A rookie quarterback can work with this team – unlike another case.

Experienced home builders, or those who want to become one, know it well.

As luxurious as the interior of your own four walls may be – if the façade can be renovated, the whole house is no good. In other words: before the splendor can really come into its own, the basic work has to be completed.

Applied to the NFL, this means that a superstar can only make the desired difference if the rest of the team itself also has at least basic quality.

And which stars do NFL teams look for particularly often? Quarterbacks, of course. No position is more important in the NFL; the franchise quarterback is the focal point that is supposed to give a team a face and bring success.

This is especially true when a franchise has a problem at the quarterback position, but there is light at the end of the tunnel in the form of a high draft pick.

The Chicago Bears have the first pick in this year’s draft and will most likely select generational talent Caleb Williams. Especially after they traded their previous quarterback Justin Fields to the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Bears have the Carolina Panthers to thank for allowing them to pick so early.

Last year, they traded up to the number one position, which the Bears would actually have had in 2023. Part of the prize was the Panthers’ first-round pick in 2024. Ironically, the fact that it was the number one pick again was not foreseeable – and certainly not what the Panthers would have expected.

Rookie quarterbacks need good circumstances

While the Bears and Panthers have a lot in common when it comes to the past and upcoming drafts, there is one major difference. For while Carolina made circumstances dramatically more difficult for its future franchise quarterback Bryce Young, Chicago is taking a much more promising approach.

Any team that wants to draft a new quarterback with the prospect of making him the new leader and face of the franchise has to put the pieces in place. Going back to the analogy from the beginning, it has to build a strong foundation and a nice facade.

For a young quarterback, this requires three pillars, as many of which should be addressed up front as possible. They need strong receivers who can create separation and allow their quarterback to complete easy passes.

Then you need a strong offensive line that buys the quarterback time. Above all, the pace and speed with which the play has to be executed is a big difference to college. And if things go well, the team also has a good running game and a running back who can take the pressure off the young quarterback.

Panthers made huge mistakes with Young

The Panthers had virtually none of that last year. When Bryce Young came to the Panthers as the number-one pick, he found a dysfunctional offense. The team’s best wide receiver, D.J. Moore, had gone to the Bears as part of the trade up. What remained was NFL average at best.

Newly signed running back Miles Sanders was completely disappointing and was unable to build on his strong time with the Philadelphia Eagles. This was also due to a much weaker offensive line, which was not only unable to block the running game, but also regularly let Young down.

The result: the highly gifted Bryce Young looked overwhelmed at times, but that wasn’t just his fault. The Panthers had simply not created good circumstances for him.

The Bears, on the other hand, have cobbled together an offense that is extremely friendly for a young quarterback. Chicago’s offseason has been one statement so far, and that’s with all three pillars: receivers, O-line and running back.

Bears build great circumstances

With Keenan Allen, the Bears brought in a top player of the past few years as the second receiver star of their squad alongside D.J. Moore. They only had to send one fourth-round pick to the Los Angeles Chargers to do so. At 31, Allen is already in the fall of his career, but averaged almost 100 yards per game last season.

Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert was able to rely on Allen regularly and matured into an elite playmaker thanks in part to the receiver. As a teacher, he should also help the Bears’ quarterback develop. And he draws the opponent’s attention away from Moore, which creates more space.

The Bears also upgraded their offensive line, signing two new centers. Coleman Shelton came as a free agent from the Los Angeles Rams and Ryan Bates was brought in via trade from the Buffalo Bills. In addition, Matt Pryor added depth and competition for the right tackle position.

And the third pillar? The Bears made an early move in free agency. They responded to the departure of David Montgomery by signing D’Andre Swift. With Swift, Khalil Herbert, Roschon Johnson and Travis Homer, there are four NFL-experienced running backs on the roster, which should enable a versatile running game.

Schlaraffenland for Williams

Together with a defense that was already strong last year and has now been improved in certain areas, the Bears around general manager Ryan Poles have built a team that could cause a surprise in the NFC. Whoever starts the season at quarterback will almost find a land of milk and honey and may be playing for the playoffs right away.

With Justin Fields, a potential intra-team rival is now history, who in turn would not yet have had the age and NFL standing to be a mentor himself. The house is built, now it’s all about the inner splendor in Chicago