Chicago Bears fans are stuck in limbo with Caleb Williams. They want to believe the young quarterback is making positive progress. His talent is so obvious. All he has to do is master Ben Johnson’s offense, and things will click. However, this fanbase knows better than to delude itself. So many quarterbacks have burned them over the years that they’ve struggled to find belief anymore. They want Williams to be great. Yet their eyes are telling them something isn’t quite right. Something is missing.
Sure enough, prominent film analyst Alex Rollins released a video on his YouTube channel. I could explain it, but the title pretty much says it all.
That is certainly not encouraging. It confirms what many fans and media have noticed for some time. The game still appears too fast for Williams. He still holds the ball too long at times and doesn’t seem to see the field well. That is why he often misses opportunities for easier completions. Yet what makes this video so depressing is that it’s not the first. Bears fans who know Rollins’ work have likely seen this before. After all, he released almost an exact duplicate nearly two years ago to the day.
Caleb Williams is following a similar trajectory to Justin Fields.
Both came into the NFL in much the same way. They were both terrific athletes with a knack for making plays off-script. Both had dynamite arms capable of striking for the big play at any moment. Also, neither was known for being an advanced student of playing from the pocket. The Bears gambled in 2021 that head coach Matt Nagy could teach Fields that part of the game with time. He was fired after that first season. Now the Bears have hired Ben Johnson to do the same for Williams. Early returns are okay, but nothing notable.
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Already, rumors are spreading that Johnson isn’t happy with his progress. Backup QB Tyson Bagent has picked up the offense much faster by comparison and looked better in training camp. If the losing continues, there could be a breaking point where Johnson decides to make a change. Williams is 5-14 as a starter. While that might not be entirely on him, the fact is that team success is most attributed to the quarterback. It was true of Fields as well. We all saw how that played out. It feels like Williams is travelling down that same road.
