Bears quarterback Caleb Williams’ productivity was significantly impacted by the high number of sacks he endured. Williams was sacked 68 times, marking the third-highest total in a single season in NFL history.
This is precisely why addressing Chicago’s offensive line issues is the top priority for the Bears’ new head coach, Ben Johnson.
Johnson, along with general manager Ryan Poles, has overhauled the Bears’ offensive line, with the primary goal of improving Williams’ protection. However, Johnson has also emphasized the expectations and efforts required from Williams himself.
Ben Johnson’s Directive for Caleb Williams
In 2024, under Ben Johnson’s leadership, the Lions offense operated under center for 56.2% of its snaps, the highest rate for any NFL team since 2020.
However, keeping Caleb Williams under center wasn’t part of Matt Eberflus’s plan, as the quarterback was under center just 26.4% of the time during his rookie season. Additionally, Williams had limited experience in that role from his college career. This is why Johnson is pushing Williams to improve his skills under center—essentially, to step out of his comfort zone.
“We had a lot of success where I was last that going under center for the run game did translate in play-action. There are some things that we’re going to encourage that he looks to do a little bit differently,” Johnson said.
“He’s [Williams] 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.”
Williams will face a significant challenge, as he operated from the shotgun 70.8% of the time during his rookie season. Now, it’s time for him to translate those rookie skills into those of an NFL-level quarterback.
Alongside him, Johnson will be pushing his newly acquired guards, Joe Thuney and Jonah Jackson, as well as free agent signee center Drew Dalman, out of their comfort zones as well.
“Whether that works for us in Chicago, time will tell,” Johnson added, underlining that building the offense the way he did in Detroit way might take a bit longer than expected in Chicago.
However, given the frustration from the Chicago fanbase with Eberflus, Johnson will only have so much time to prove himself before that frustration resurfaces. Moving Williams under center should help the Bears run more play-action, a strategy that worked well in Detroit, where the offense ranked No. 6 in rushing.
PFSN’s Offense+ metric ranked the Detroit Lions’ offense as the best in the league. If Johnson can replicate that success in Chicago and pair it with Williams’ best quarterback qualities, it would be a huge boost for the Bears’ future.