Southern Cal quarterback Caleb Williams will be the first pick in the NFL Draft on April 25 in Detroit. The question is: Which team will pick him?

The Chicago Bears own the No. 1 selection thanks to the Carolina Panthers’ 2-15 record in 2023. Last year, the Panthers traded their 2024 first-round pick as part of their package to obtain the 2023 No. 1 selection from the Bears to select Alabama quarterback Bryce Young.

Chicago has a quarterback. The 11th choice of the 2021 NFL Draft, Justin Fields became the third QB with 1,000 rushing yards in a season in 2022, when he finished ninth in the balloting for The Associated Press NFL Most Valuable Player Award.

But the Bears have a 10-28 record over the past three seasons when Fields was their starting quarterback.

Chicago might prefer to begin again with Williams.

If they don’t, the Bears aren’t taking one of the top offensive tackles or even Ohio State wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. at No. 1. Chicago will trade the pick for the second year in a row for the team-building bonanza offered by the club most eager to add Williams at quarterback.

As usual, the pursuit of quarterbacks will be the driving force in the first round, but this mock draft is more like a rough draft because of that. Russell Wilson, Kirk Cousins, Baker Mayfield and Ryan Tannehill are currently among the quarterbacks slated to become unrestricted free agents on Wednesday, and where they end up will reshape what will happen in the first round of the draft.

The NFL teams cleared another hurdle in the draft process last week with the NFL Scouting Combine, where some players, such as wide receiver Xavier Worthy of Texas and cornerbacks Quinyon Mitchell of Toledo and Nate Wiggins of Clemson, gave the league’s talent evaluators something extra to think about.

Now there’re pro days and pre-draft interviews ahead during the seven-week countdown to the first round. Over the three-day event in Detroit, NFL teams will select 256 players.

Here’s a pre-free agency look at how the first round could go (with each team picking in its current position):

1. Southern Cal quarterback Caleb Williams by the Chicago Bears.

2. North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye by the Washington Commanders.

3. LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels by the New England Patriots.

4. Ohio State wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. by the Arizona Cardinals.

5. Georgia tight end Brock Bowers by the Los Angeles Chargers.

6. LSU wide receiver Malik Nabers by the New York Giants.

7. Notre Dame offensive tackle Joe Alt by the Tennessee Titans.

8. Alabama edge rusher Dallas Turner by the Atlanta Falcons.

9. Washington wide receiver Rome Odunze by the Chicago Bears.

10. Penn State offensive tackle Olumuyiwa Fashanu by the New York Jets.

11. UCLA edge rusher Laiatu Latu by the Minnesota Vikings.

12. Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy by the Denver Broncos.

13. Alabama cornerback Terrion Arnold by the Las Vegas Raiders.

14. Alabama offensive tackle JC Latham by the New Orleans Saints.

15. Toledo cornerback Quinyon Mitchell by the Indianapolis Colts.

16. Texas defensive tackle Byron Murphy II by the Seattle Seahawks.

17. Clemson cornerback Nate Wiggins by the Jacksonville Jaguars.

18. Oregon State offensive tackle Taliese Fuaga by the Cincinnati Bengals.

19. Florida State edge rusher Jared Verse by the Los Angeles Rams.

20. Oklahoma offensive tackle Tyler Guyton by the Pittsburgh Steelers.

21. Arizona offensive tackle Jordan Morgan by the Miami Dolphins.

22. Alabama cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry by the Philadelphia Eagles.

23. Illinois defensive tackle Johnny Newton by the Houston Texans.

24. Washington offensive tackle Troy Fautanu by the Dallas Cowboys.

25. Georgia offensive tackle Amarius Mims by the Green Bay Packers.

26. Oregon quarterback Bo Nix by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

27. Penn State edge rusher Chop Robinson by the Arizona Cardinals.

28. Oregon center Jackson Powers-Johnson by the Buffalo Bills

29. Duke offensive lineman Graham Barton by the Detroit Lions.

30. LSU wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. by the Baltimore Ravens.

31. Missouri edge rusher Darius Robinson by the San Francisco 49ers.

32. Texas wide receiver Xavier Worthy by the Kansas City Chiefs.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.