Caleb Williams Finding Success Under Ben Johnson Is No Guarantee
Will Ben Johnson be able to fix Caleb Williams' accuracy issues and last year's sack problems?
Caleb Williams suddenly becoming a top tier quarterback upon Ben Johnson’s arrival is not a given. Williams was wildly inaccurate his rookie season and consistently held onto the ball too long, leading to unnecessary sacks.
Among quarterbacks with a minimum of 250 dropbacks (per fantasy points data) Williams ranked 38th in catchable throw % (70.8%) and 26th in adjustable completion % (74.2%).
He was one of the most inaccurate quarterbacks in the NFL last season.
He also had a major problem holding onto the ball too long.
One analytic that does a great job showing how quarterbacks are at avoiding sacks is pressure sack %. Pressure sack %, via fantasy points data, is defined as “Percentage of pressured dropbacks that result in a sack.”
In 2024 among quarterbacks with a minimum of 250 drop backs, Caleb Williams had a pressure sack % of 30%. That ranked 38th in the NFL out of 39 possible quarterbacks. Only Will Levis was worse.
For comparison Josh Allen ranked 1st in the NFL with a pressure sack % of 8%. Jordan Love ranked 2nd in the NFL with a pressure sack % of 9.7%. Williams was nearly 3 times worse than Josh Allen and Jordan Love at avoiding sacks when pressured. (per fantasy points data).
Some may argue that the Bears offensive line didn't do him any favors, and at times that was true, but the unit was not as poor as Caleb Williams made them look.
The Bears were 15th in ESPN's pass block win rate and PFF ranked the Bears offensive line 8th in pass block grade in 2024. They could have been better, but this was not one of the bottom units in the NFL.
Even with multiple upgrades along the offensive line, it is not guaranteed that the Bears sack woes of 2024 are a thing of the past, considering Williams was a major part of the problem.
Ben Johnson's scheme is supposed to be the answer to Caleb Williams' problems. His emphasis on the quick passing game is supposed to mitigate Williams' problematic habit of holding onto the ball too long.
It's hard to believe that Williams will not make some kind of improvement with the addition of one of the better offensive minds in the NFL. But will it be enough?
Even if Williams' accuracy improves, how much will it improve?
There is no question that Caleb Williams has a lot to work on after his rookie season. He could very well take his game to another level, but there is no guarantee.
