GOOD NEWS: Bears sign WR Caleb Williams’ ‘best friend’ as an undrafted free agent.
The Chicago Bears are doing everything they can to make new quarterback Caleb Williams feel at home, including welcoming his closest friend to the team.
Aaron Leming of 247 Sports and SB Nation’s Windy City Gridiron claimed on Tuesday, April 30, that the Bears had signed Williams’ “best friend,” wide receiver John Jackson III.
“As TJ Houshmandzadeh said on @WaddleandSilvy, the #Bears signed Caleb Williams’ best friend as a UDFA [undrafted free agent],” Leming posted to X.
Details on Jackson’s deal with the Bears were not immediately available.
Caleb Williams, John Jackson III Played at USC Together
Jackson and Williams had one overlapping year at USC in 2022. That was Williams’ Heisman Trophy-winning season and first year in Los Angeles, while it was Jackson’s third campaign as a member of the Trojans.
Jackson made just 1 reception for 3 yards that season, and tallied just 5 catches for a total of 42 yards across his time with USC, per Football Reference. The wideout left for Nevada in 2023, where he appeared in 12 games and caught 35 passes for 267 receiving yards. Jackson never scored a touchdown at the collegiate level.
Meanwhile, Williams returned to USC for his third college season (second after one year at Oklahoma) and ended up in Chicago as the first overall pick in the NFL draft.
Jackson will now battle for a spot on a receiver-heavy squad that includes DJ Moore, Keenan Allen, and Washington’s rookie/No. 9 overall pick in 2024, Rome Odunze.
Caleb Williams, Rome Odunze Forging Friendship as Careers Begin With Bears
Odunze and Williams also look to be fast friends, as the two worked out together before the draft and became viral on social media when they discovered they were on the same plane to Detroit last weekend.
Williams was also clearly pumped up backstage when the Bears announced they had selected Odunze at No.9.
“We got our guy,” Williams said.
The former USC quarterback is entering the league with perhaps one of the best supporting casts of skill players any No. 1 pick at the position has ever had walking into his first year. Aside from Odunze, Moore and Allen — arguably the best trio of receivers in the NFL, assuming Odunze pans out — Williams will also throw to tight end Cole Kmet and dual-threat running back/Pro Bowler D’Andre Swift, who Chicago signed in free agency.
The Bears’ offensive line is average, finishing 19th overall last season, according to Pro Football Focus (PFF). However, there is cause to be optimistic that the group will improve by 2024 and beyond.
On January 10, Zoltán Buday of PFF reported that the Bears’ offensive line suffered due to the absence of key players Braxton Jones, Tevin Jenkins, and Nate Davis. “Once the young group was at full strength, it flashed enough promise to make Bears fans optimistic about the future.”
Chicago also added left tackle Kiran Amegadjie in the third round of last weekend’s draft (No. 75 overall) after using the No. 10 selection in the 2023 first round to pick starting right tackle Darnell Wright.
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