Bears head coach Ben Johnson confirms suspicions about some of the changes he will implement with Caleb Williams in 2025
The 2024 season was a forgettable experience for Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams, who dealt with immense pressure on and off the field.A bulk of the struggles the 2024 first overall pick faced during his rookie season were caused by inconsistent coaching staff and multiple different people in his ear deciding the best way to […]
The 2024 season was a forgettable experience for Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams, who dealt with immense pressure on and off the field.
A bulk of the struggles the 2024 first overall pick faced during his rookie season were caused by inconsistent coaching staff and multiple different people in his ear deciding the best way to utilize his talents.
That's one of the things that will change in a big way in 2025 with head coach Ben Johnson coming into town to work with the team's franchise quarterback.
As an offensive-minded head coach, Johnson has noted multiple times already how this time will be built around Williams and with Williams in mind, and Johnson will be the one running the operation on offense for his young quarterback.
Just the shear presence of Johnson alone will be a major benefit to Williams' career and growth as a quarterback. But Johnson isn't alone, offensive coordinator Declan Doyle and quarterbacks coach J.T. Barrett will also play a role in picking Williams literally back up off the ground in 2025.
"We're going to limit the number of people that are directly communicating to Caleb," Johnson explained to reporters on Tuesday during the NFL League Meetings. "I'm going to be a part of that food chain and so is Declan (Doyle) and so is J.T. Barrett. The extent of which we're still working out, but we'll start on that process next week."
As for the on-field changes, Johnson alluded to the fact that those changes will begin being implemented next week when the players return to Chicago for the start of the offseason program.
One of the things Johnson wants to do differently with Williams in 2025 is getting him under center more often and utilizing his abilities as a play-action quarterback.
"There are some things that we're going to encourage that he looks to do a little bit differently," Johnson said. "He's been predominantly a shotgun quarterback for most of his high school and college career, and so he's very comfortable there. We're going to work to see the comfort level under center and how much of that applies. We had a lot of success where I was at last, going under center for the run game did translate in play action. Whether that works for us in Chicago, that's what time will tell."
That might sound simple enough, but it's actually going to be a major change for Williams game compared to how he played in 2024.
According to Sports Info Solutions, Caleb Williams lined up under center 88 times in 2024 (the 12th most in the NFL) and had 75 pass attempts under center (13th most).
Now, let's compare those numbers to Johnson's quarterback with the Detroit Lions. Jared Goff led the NFL with 231 dropbacks and 221 pass attempts under center in 2024. On those attempts, Goff also led the NFL with 2,162 passing yards and was second with 14 touchdowns while under center.
Playing his QB under center is something that has worked in the past for Johnson and it's something that he wants to see more of out of Williams game in 2025. The best part is that Johnson seems to be willing to adjust if it doesn't pan out as planned.
The other thing Johnson plans to prioritize in 2025 is EPA and not turnover-free football, a stark analytical approach that greatly differs from how Williams was coached during his rookie season.
Last year, the Bears coaching staff prioritized limited turnovers at the quarterback position, which didn't allow Williams to play free at take chances. Johnson's model instead will focus on driving up the competition percentage while using play-action to open up the shots downfield.
All of these changes will hopefully allow Williams to become a more efficient and effective passer in 2025, which in turn will help the Bears offense hopefully reach the heights Johnson set during his time in Detroit.
Ben Johnson gives positive updates on the development of two 2024 draft picks who didn’t quite live up to expectations as rookies
Don’t write these guys off just yet.
