Everybody knows Caleb Williams is a special talent off script. Few in the NFL are better at using their legs to avoid pressure and making a play on the fly. It's what Williams became famous for at USC. However, as everybody knows, that ability alone wouldn't be enough at the pro level. If Williams wanted to be great, he had to learn how to operate from the pocket. That is why the Chicago Bears brought in Ben Johnson as their new head coach. He is a master at teaching pro-style offense, incorporating lots of work under center, play-action, footwork, and timing.
None of these concepts was a primary focus for Williams in college. Many people wondered how he would adjust to it, or if he could at all. Things didn't start well. The quarterback couldn't shake many of his old habits. He held the ball too long, relied on scrambling, and focused too much on looking for the big play. Johnson's frustration was evident. Reports persisted that the head coach's patience had limits. How long would he wait for Williams to figure it out? Many didn't give it the entire season. Thankfully, it sounds like Johnson has started noticing real progress from his quarterback.
One play stuck out to him in the big win over Cincinnati. Funny enough, it was an incompletion.
“There’s a number of things that I was pretty pleased with,” Johnson said. “It’s looking more like I want it to look – that he wants it to look like. I can think of one particular instance off the top of my head before halftime where (we) called a play and they ended up clouding it to the side of the primary. So that’s not there, he gets through his progression and quickly dumps the ball to the back as he’s stepping up in the pocket. Now we didn’t throw our best ball. It was a little bit high. We didn’t haul it in. But that to me was what we want this quarterback to look like as he’s playing within the timing and the rhythm of this offense and trusting his feet to take him through the progressions. Something for us to build on.”
“There’s a couple that we can continue to clean up,” Johnson continued. “I think he’s starting to play faster. The more reps we’re getting on some of these concepts, he’s understanding the intent, the coverages that we’re really looking to get and if we’re not getting those coverages, can we quickly get to No. 2, No. 3 or even look to run with that ball? It’s coming along nicely.”
Caleb Williams is starting to see how everything works.
That is often the biggest hurdle for young quarterbacks. They can hear the play call and envision how it's drawn up. The problem is that many of them struggle to understand why. Each call is meant to counter a specific coverage or alignment the defense is showing. If the quarterback puts the ball where it's supposed to go, it creates a positive play. Caleb Williams often seemed uncertain about the objectives of many plays. He'd been a fraction of a second late on his reads, leading to poor timing and no rhythm.
Johnson can see the light going on. Williams understands coverages better. He's starting to know where his outlet passes are. That throw to Brittain Brown was a perfect example. The key is making sure his feet are right so the pass is on target next time. It is all part of the process. Johnson has maintained a consistent approach, and it's working.
