Bears fans make feelings clear on Ashton Jeanty linking up with Caleb Williams - "This worries me", "We need O-Line"

The Chicago Bears already know how they want to start their new era. The team fired Matt Eberflus and handed the franchise's keys to Ben Johnson, the highly coveted offensive coordinator of the Detroit Lions, who led the league's highest-scoring offense in the 2024 season.

Johnson was officially announced as the head coach on Monday, and his main task will be developing Caleb Williams as a franchise quarterback. The first overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft had an inconsistent first season, and Johnson, who led a career resurgence for Jared Goff, hopes to do the same with Williams.

Building the team around him and keeping him protected is massive. But a photo of Williams with Ashton Jeanty, a running back prospect from Boise State, had fans worried that the franchise might use their first-round pick on the running back instead of building a better offensive line for the young quarterback:

We cannot afford a running back with a top-10 pick. We need to get every single O-line spot covered before it’s even a consideration," one fan wrote.

"O-line. Only O-line. I love Jeanty, but get that thought out in c your head!!," one fan added.

"Look man I’m all for it, but I would rather prefer us getting some offensive linemen. I mean, Jeanty wouldn’t really do much with this current offensive line," one fan tweeted.

"I’m sorry but the pick has to be a OL or DL. We can’t afford to spend a premium pick on a running back," a third fan said.

Bears used first-round picks on defensive players just once since 2017

Improving the offense has been a long-time task in Chicago. Since the 2017 season, a single first-round pick in the draft has been used on a defensive player. It was linebacker Roquan Smith, and he did not even sign a second deal with the franchise as he was traded to the Baltimore Ravens.

Mitchell Trubisky, Justin Fields and Caleb Williams have been the quarterbacks drafted in Chicago during this period. In 2022, tackle Darnell Wright was added to the roster, and in 2024, after Williams, wide receiver Rome Odunze also joined the Bears as a first-round pick.

The Bears had no first-round picks in 2019, 2020 and 2022 due to trades involving other players.