{"id":116002,"date":"2024-05-02T01:56:34","date_gmt":"2024-05-02T01:56:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/?p=116002"},"modified":"2024-05-02T01:56:49","modified_gmt":"2024-05-02T01:56:49","slug":"bears-sign-wr-best-friend-of-caleb-williams-as-undrafted-free-agent-nguyensa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nbahang.aweu.info\/bears-sign-wr-best-friend-of-caleb-williams-as-undrafted-free-agent-nguyensa\/","title":{"rendered":"Bears Sign WR, \u2018Best Friend\u2019 of Caleb Williams as Undrafted Free Agent"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"post-featured-container-id\">\n<div>\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/GettyImages-2150354475-e1714214289188.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" alt=\"Caleb Williams, Bears\" width=\"780\" height=\"438\" data-img-load-time=\"677\" data-dom-ready-time=\"736\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>Getty\u00a0Quarterback Caleb Williams of the Chicago Bears.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The\u00a0Chicago Bears\u00a0are doing everything they can to make their new quarterback\u00a0Caleb Williams\u00a0feel at home, including signing his closest friend.<\/p>\n<p>Aaron Leming of 247 Sports and SB Nation\u2019s Windy City Gridiron reported\u00a0on Tuesday, April 30, that the Bears had signed Williams\u2019 \u201cbest friend,\u201d wide receiver\u00a0John Jackson III.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs\u00a0TJ Houshmandzadeh\u00a0said on @WaddleandSilvy, the #Bears signed Caleb Williams\u2019 best friend as a UDFA [undrafted free agent],\u201d\u00a0Leming posted to X.<\/p>\n<p>Details on Jackson\u2019s deal with the Bears were not immediately available.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Caleb Williams, John Jackson III Played at USC Together<\/h2>\n<div id=\"attachment_4954197\">\n<div>\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/GettyImages-1723464305-2-e1712077921170.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=782\" alt=\"Bears Top 30 Visit Tracker 2024 NFL Draft Caleb Williams\" width=\"782\" height=\"441\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4954197\" data-lazy-load=\"\" data-src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/GettyImages-1723464305-2-e1712077921170.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=782\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-4954197\">GettyFormer USC quarterback Caleb Williams is now a member of the Chicago Bears, as is his former Trojan teammate wide receiver John Jackson III.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Jackson and Williams had one overlapping year at USC in 2022. That was Williams\u2019 Heisman Trophy-winning season and first year in Los Angeles, while it was Jackson\u2019s third campaign as a member of the Trojans.<\/p>\n<p>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\u00a0Football 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.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Williams stuck around USC for his third college campaign (second there after one year at Oklahoma) and ended up in Chicago as the No. 1 overall pick in the\u00a0NFL\u00a0draft.<\/p>\n<p>Jackson will now compete over the coming months for a spot on a roster that is stacked at the receiver position with players like\u00a0DJ Moore,\u00a0Keenan Allen\u00a0and rookie\/No. 9 overall pick in 2024 out of Washington\u00a0Rome Odunze.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Caleb Williams, Rome Odunze Forging Friendship as Careers Begin With Bears<\/h2>\n<div id=\"attachment_5000998\">\n<div>\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/GettyImages-2150354529-e1714176220535.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=782\" alt=\"Rome Odunze, Bears\" width=\"782\" height=\"441\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5000998\" data-lazy-load=\"\" data-src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/GettyImages-2150354529-e1714176220535.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=782\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-5000998\">GettyWide receiver Rome Odunze of the Chicago Bears.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Odunze and Williams also appear to be growing into fast friends, as the two worked out together ahead of the draft then\u00a0went viral across several social media posts\u00a0when they found out they were on the same plane to the draft in Detroit last weekend.<\/p>\n<p>Williams was also clearly revved up\u00a0backstage after the Bears announced they had picked Odunze at No. 9.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe got our guy,\u201d\u00a0Williams said.<\/p>\n<p>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 \u2014 arguably the best trio of receivers in the NFL, assuming Odunze pans out \u2014 Williams will also throw to tight end\u00a0Cole Kmet\u00a0and dual-threat running back\/Pro Bowler\u00a0D\u2019Andre Swift, who Chicago signed in free agency.<\/p>\n<p>The Bears\u2019 offensive line is mediocre, finishing last year ranked 19th overall, per Pro Football Focus (PFF). However, there is reason for optimism that the group will improve in 2024 and beyond.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cKey players\u00a0Braxton Jones,\u00a0Teven Jenkins\u00a0and\u00a0Nate Davis\u00a0all missed time early in the season, which took a toll on the Bears\u2019 offensive line,\u201d\u00a0Zolt\u00e1n Buday of PFF wrote on January 10. \u201cOnce the young group was at full strength, it flashed enough promise to make Bears fans optimistic about the future.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Chicago also added left tackle\u00a0Kiran Amegadjie\u00a0in the third round of last weekend\u2019s draft (No. 75 overall) after using the No. 10 selection in the 2023 first round to pick starting right tackle\u00a0Darnell Wright.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Getty\u00a0Quarterback Caleb Williams of the Chicago Bears. The\u00a0Chicago Bears\u00a0are doing everything they can to make their new quarterback\u00a0Caleb Williams\u00a0feel at home, including signing his closest friend. Aaron&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":116003,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-116002","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nbahang.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116002","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nbahang.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nbahang.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nbahang.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nbahang.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116002"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nbahang.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116002\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":116004,"href":"https:\/\/nbahang.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116002\/revisions\/116004"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nbahang.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/116003"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nbahang.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nbahang.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nbahang.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}