Ben Johnson is walking a fine line as he looks to harness Caleb Williams’ dynamic playmaking outside the pocket
The Chicago Bears quarterback is looking to bounce back from his worst game of the season.
We are six games into the 2025 season with Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson working alongside quarterback Caleb Williams and it’s been a up and down showing so far, which was to be expected going into the season.
It’s going to take time for these two to mesh and the priority is finding continued improvement and making the right steps forward after every game. We’ve seen some that come to light.
Yet, Week 7 was easily Williams’ worst game of the season. He missed open receivers, had a bad turnover, and had issues with getting the play off the ground. The good news? The Bears still came away victorious and while Williams’ play was a concern, it’s clear where the next area to fix is.
Harnessing Caleb Williams’ accuracy and decision making on the run is the next step for Ben Johnson
Caleb Williams is unlike any quarterback Ben Johnson has worked with throughout his coaching career in the NFL and a big reason why is because of Williams’ mobility and backyard play style.
Williams is a magician at evading pressure and has the natural skillset to make plays happen on the move. But, he’s not entirely perfect, and we saw some of those imperfections last Sunday.
“I feel like there’s a few of those that we could have back and maybe make a little bit of a different decision than what we did in the moment’s notice,” Johnson explained.
When operating out of the pocket against the Saints, Williams completed three of his eight passing attempts. Five of those passes were categorized as catchable balls, according to Sports Info Solutions. So, it’s fair to say not all of the misconnects where Williams’ fault. But, it’s still something you’d like to see improved moving forward. And the answer isn’t limiting Williams to stay in the pocket and avoiding those situations on the move.
“That’s part of what makes him special as a player,” Johnson added. “You don’t want to neuter him, you don’t. That’s a dangerous road to go down because he’s got this natural ability to feel the pocket and know when to escape and extend. I think, more than anything, for us, it’s just making sure we’re on the same page of the time and the place, the situation, for where that Superman cape comes out.”
Among quarterbacks with 10+ pass attempts, Williams’ 37.1 completion percentage ranks 32 out of 34 quarterbacks when looking at the entire season as a whole. It’s worth noting his average depth of throw on those passes is the fourth-highest (12.5) which basically shows he’s looking for explosive down the field throws while on the move and not being able to hit those throws consistently.
“I think it it comes down to understanding the situation,” Williams said after the game on Sunday. “I think it also comes down to being able to get our players the explosive ball. If we complete the passes I missed – I missed about five or six on the run, which is extremely frustrating for me – I think if I hit those, nothing’s said.”
Not only that, there’s also a balance when it comes to operating on the run when choosing to throw the explosive ball or make the decision to keep running for positive yards. Situations and coverage certainly play a role in that as well. It’s great to see Williams acknowledge that and take some accountability for it.
But, for Williams to miss open receivers and make incorrect decisions on the move, that hurts the offense as a whole stay on track and pick up first downs, it was especially the case in Week 7. But, Johnson’s right, it’s not something the Bears need to shy away from with Williams. It’s a fine line to walk and it puts a lot more pressure on Williams to execute his job.
We’ve seen him do that at times at a high level earlier in the season. It’s just getting back to playing that kind of football and being accurate on the move that can really get this offense rolling.
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