Caleb Williams visits with Bears. Could it be his only team visit?

The Bears are three weeks away from making their selection with the first overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft. Pretty much everyone expects that first pick to be USC quarterback Caleb Williams.

Williams was in town Wednesday to visit with the Bears at Halas Hall, as first reported by ESPN 1000 host and Shaw Local columnist Marc Silverman. Per Silvy, Williams even dined with some current members of the Bears.

NFL teams are allowed to have 30 in-person visits at their team facilities in the lead up to the draft. In league circles, these visits are typically referred to as “30 visits” or “top-30 visits.” All along the way, the Bears have been meeting with countless prospects. They’ll meet with some at the Senior Bowl, others at the NFL Scouting Combine and others at various college pro days.

But the 30 visits have some extra importance. They provide teams with the opportunity to meet with prospects for longer periods of time, to see how they interact with various members of the organization and to get important medical evaluations with their own team doctors.

The NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport went one step further and noted in a tweet that Williams’ visit to Halas Hall this week was “likely his only visit.”

Williams has done things his own way throughout the draft process. He did not partake in medical evaluations at the combine. He did not want all 32 teams to have his medical information.

“Not 32 can draft me,” Williams said at the combine in March. “There’s only one of me. So the teams that I go to for my visit, those teams will have the medical and that’ll be it.”

Not 32 can draft me. There’s only one of me. So the teams that I go to for my visit, those teams will have the medical and that’ll be it.”

—  Caleb Williams, USC quarterback

If Williams doesn’t visit any other team facilities, that would make the Bears the only team with his full medical evaluation. Williams and his camp clearly believe that the 2022 Heisman Trophy winner will be the first pick in the draft. And at this point, maybe this is all just a formality.

All signs continue to point toward Williams being the first name called April 25.

Other players on visits

The Bears have two first-round picks and they are investing just as much time into figuring out what they will do with the No. 9 pick as they are scouting Williams. Per various reports, the Bears have had top receivers Malik Nabers and Rome Odunze in for visits, as well as top edge rushers Dallas Turner and Chop Robinson, top linemen Tyler Guyton and Graham Barton and top tight end Brock Bowers.

The top 30 visits give teams a chance to really zero in on their top draft picks, and they can also be valuable when scouting lesser-known prospects.

Here’s a list of players who reportedly have met with the Bears as part of their top-30 visits:

• USC QB Caleb Williams, per Shaw Local’s Marc Silverman
• LSU WR Malik Nabers, per ESPN 1000
• Washington WR Rome Odunze, per ESPN
• Alabama DE Dallas Turner, per ESPN
• Georgia TE Brock Bowers, per Tony Pauline
• Oklahoma OT Tyler Guyton, per Sports Illustrated
• Penn State DE Chop Robinson, per ESPN 1000
• Duke OL Graham Barton, per Bleacher Report
• Yale OT Kiran Amegadjie, per The Draft Network
• West Virginia OL Zach Frazier, per Bleacher Report
• Kansas State TE Ben Sinnott, per MLFootball
• Notre Dame CB Cam Hart, per The Draft Network
• Auburn CB Nehemiah Pritchett, per The Draft Network
• Boston College CB Elijah Jones, per Jones’ Instagram
• Tulane WR Jha’Quan Jackson, per Bleacher Report
• Kentucky CB Andru Phillips, per MLFootball

The Bears will host additional prospects between now and April 25. The Bears also host an annual local pro day for prospects who either grew up or played college near Chicago.