Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams knew the team had to get the next head coach right. Matt Eberflus had crashed and burned. If the team couldn’t find someone capable of developing the young quarterback, his career and their hopes of escaping the NFL cellar would be crushed. That is why the Bears made a determined push from the outset to lure Ben Johnson from Detroit. Everybody knew his reputation as an offensive wizard. If anybody could get Williams back on track, it was him. Rumors even indicated that the quarterback was pushing for it behind the scenes.
It didn’t take long for Williams to realize he may have bitten off more than he could chew. Throughout his career up to that point, he’d played in simple, streamlined offenses that allowed him to use his athletic gifts to the fullest extent. Johnson had no intention of doing that. His system was deep and complex, demanding a lot of the quarterback, both pre- and post-snap. Williams had never imagined an offense could be so dense. He admitted at his recent press conference that there were times last year when it almost broke him.
“It’s a hell of a lot more fun for me than it was last year just because it was — I was saying it to [running backs coach Eric Studesville], ‘Dude, I feel like I was drowning trying to breathe or stay alive and wait for a boat to come around last year,'” Williams said. “Now this year, it’s being able to start where we finished last year, playcalls and words and verbiage and speak the same language, and now it’s being able to grow more from an earlier stage than maybe doing it a little bit earlier in the season or halfway through the season, speaking on things that really help throughout the year. That’s the advantage.”
Caleb Williams got his first taste of a real NFL offense.
That reaction is far more standard than some would have you believe. College offenses are simple out of necessity. They’re meant to maximize a team’s athleticism and speed. Since the talent level isn’t overly high, given how many teams there are, it’s much easier to put up big numbers and win games. That isn’t the case in the NFL. Defenses are way too smart, fast, and prepared. Simplistic approaches are asking for trouble. That is why coaches work to install more complex schemes. It is time-consuming and can have early bumps in the road, but the long-term payoff is often worth it.
The big question that every team faces is whether the quarterback is up to the challenge. Many of the guys coming out of college never experienced anything like a true NFL offense. Most of them have zero concept of the complex language and responsibilities involved. That is why you see so many young quarterbacks crash and burn after dominating college football. By the sound of it, Caleb Williams felt that same pain early in the season. Based on his own admission, it wasn’t until the second Vikings game in mid-November that things started clicking.
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The toughest hurdle has been cleared.
History says that you should notice whether a young quarterback is getting it by his second season. It was clear Williams had more flow and urgency down the stretch of last year. It wasn’t perfect, but his ability to execute the offense as intended was considerably better. Going into practice this past month, the feeling is night and day. He understands the terminology and knows what to do on every play. That allows him to execute things faster. These are the fruits of Johnson’s labor.
Williams has said he knows the goals for this season. It is efficiency. Work to get the ball out of his hands on time and on target. This leads to greater efficiency, which keeps defenses on their heels. Johnson doesn’t want to squash Williams’ preternatural ability to improvise. It’s about recognizing that sometimes such heroics aren’t necessary. After spending all offseason reviewing game film, the quarterback is starting to understand why.
