Bears OTAs Top Offensive Storylines: Caleb Williams aims to increase completion percentage, while another battle begins at LT
The Chicago Bears are set to kick off organized team activities on Wednesday and here are some of the top offensive storylines to follow including multiple competitions for starting roles.
The Chicago Bears are set to kick off organized team activities on Wednesday and the offensive side of the ball will have plenty of questions going into the second season under head coach Ben Johnson and first season with Press Taylor as offensive coordinator.
While the unit didn’t have as much turnover compared to the defensive side of the ball, there’s still some exciting new faces on offense set to mix in with the returning players.
Ahead of practice and press conferences, let’s break down some of the top offensive storylines going into OTAs.
Chicago Bears top offensive storylines to watch at OTAs
QB Caleb Williams and the staff aims to increase his completion percentage
Caleb Williams took some major strides in his second season with the Bears and greatly benefited from having Johnson as his head coach and primary play-caller. Yet, it still was far from perfect and becoming a more efficient quarterback is a priority going into 2026.
“Now the information is not foreign to him,” QBs coach J.T. Barrett told reporters last Thursday. “He has better understanding of why we do things and what’s the reason. For him, you’ll just be able to see a growth of operation and execution of the offense, just from the efficiency standpoint and getting us in the right plays and being able to communicate. All of that is going to improve being that he has more ownership of it.”
Part of that efficiency includes raising Williams’ completion percentage. Johnson’s ideal bar is 70 percent, a number he views as “elite” but anything close to 65 percent would be a great first step to take. In order to get there, Williams needs to work on his accuracy and the pass catchers play a role as well when it comes to the number of drops.
“Some of that is just better familiarity with everything around routes and also the guys he’s throwing to, having the guys returning, knowing Colston [Loveland], Luther [Burden III], Cole [Kmet], all those guys being a big part, Rome [Odunze], of course,” Barrett added. “That is going to be something as well, where he has another year throwing with these guys with these route concepts and understanding what we’re trying to do.”
Another year, another open competition at left tackle
After rebuilding the interior of the offensive line last offseason, the Bears held an open battle at the left tackle spot going into the 2025 season. Said battle lasted all the way up until Week 1 until the Bears finally named Braxton Jones as the starter. That lasted just four weeks until Jones was pulled for Theo Benedet. Later in the season, the Bears hoped they had something promising in second-round rookie Ozzy Trapilo, until he unfortunately suffered a patellar tendon injury in the playoffs.
Now, the Bears are back to square one to see which player is best suited to protect Williams’ blindside. Jones has been putting in the work this offseason after signing a one-year deal to prove he can regain his starting position. The Bears also added another revitalization project in former first-round pick Jedrick Wills Jr., who took the entire 2025 season off to get healthy. Benedet looms as a potential option as well.
“I don’t think anybody goes in as the lead,” OL coach Dan Roushar explained. “We certainly put value in the veteran, in Braxton. So we’ll let that thing play out.”
Starting position on the line at center as well?
Following the sudden retirement of Pro Bowl center Drew Dalman earlier this offseason, the Bears sunk plenty of assets into the position after trading for veteran Garrett Bradbury and then drafting Logan Jones in the second-round.
Bradbury, who’s coming off a Super Bowl start with the New England Patriots with history playing to the right of All-Pro left guard Joe Thuney, should be viewed as the early favorite to start going into the final year of his contract.
However, the Bears don’t view Jones as a rookie after an experienced starting career at Iowa, arguably top offensive line program in college football. Johnson said the ball is in Jones’ court to see if he’s ready to be a Day 1 starter or if the Bears are better off rolling with the veteran to open the season.
“It’s going to be a lot of fun,” Jones said. “I know I have a long road ahead of me. But it’s something I look forward to. I’m not going to be perfect. Nobody’s going to be perfect. It’s an imperfect game. But as long as I continue to grow, learn and have fun, then at the end of the day, just go out there, play some football, keep it simple, and run off the ball and block.”
New weapons joining Ben Johnson’s arsenal
Chicago’s offensive arsenal took a hit when the team traded veteran wide receiver DJ Moore to the Buffalo Bills. It was a difficult, but justified, decision and puts a lot of responsibility onto the plates of the team’s young pass catchers to step up.
Rome Odunze, Luther Burden III, and Colston Loveland will be the team’s Big 3 commanding the bulk of the shares in the passing game with Cole Kmet and Jahdae Walker set to return as well.
As for the new faces, Johnson will be reuniting with former Detroit Lions wide receiver Kalif Raymond, who can fill that leadership void for the young WRs. In the draft, Chicago added another tight end in Sam Roush to replace Durham Smythe and a speedy weapon in Zavion Thomas to deploy in various different ways.
OTAs will be our first opportunity to see how Johnson will cook with all of these ingredients. It’s a dangerous group on paper, but a really young core of weapons.