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Courtney Cronin
LAKE FOREST, Ailing. — Chicago Bears coach Ben Johnson has a selected objective for quarterback Caleb Williams‘ second NFL season, and it is one which the staff will start to measure when coaching camp practices start Wednesday.
“I advised him I’d love for him this season to finish 70% of his balls,” Johnson mentioned. “So, you want to suppose that over the course of follow that we’re finishing 70% or extra, or that is laborious to simply magically come up in a sport. It is a lofty objective, nevertheless it’s one we will attempt for. Due to that, we will use that as a benchmark and form of work from there.”
Reaching the 70% threshold would require appreciable enchancment for Williams within the accuracy division. As a rookie, the 2024 No. 1 choose accomplished 62.5% of his passes (thirty first out of 36 certified quarterbacks) for 3,541 yards, 20 touchdowns and 6 interceptions. That marked the fifth-best season by a Bears quarterback, however Williams’ completion proportion nonetheless fell beneath league common (65.3%).
The truth is, solely 5 quarterbacks accomplished 70% of their passes in 2024, together with Jared Goff (72.4%), who had Johnson as his offensive coordinator since 2022. Just one quarterback crossed the 70% threshold in 2023: Cincinnati’s Jake Browning. No first- or second-year quarterback reached that mark in both of the previous two seasons.
Lofty or not, it is one in every of two particular targets that Williams additionally mentioned he has for himself firstly of his second season with the Bears. The opposite? One which has by no means been achieved in Chicago.
“[Being] the primary 4,000-yard passer in Bears historical past,” Williams mentioned. “That is a objective of mine. 70% completion, that helps the staff, retains [the offense] on the sector, places us in higher positions. After which apart from that, simply making an attempt to go down and rating probably the most factors that we will with every drive that we’ve. That is form of my self-goal, and clearly apart from that you have to go win. That is success for me, that is success for the staff.
“That is all we want for and I want for.”
Solely 4 quarterbacks threw for 4,000 yards whereas finishing 70% of their passes in 2024: Goff, Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow, Tampa Bay’s Baker Mayfield and Seattle’s Geno Smith. To assist Williams take steps towards reaching these feats, Johnson despatched the 23-year-old quarterback into the offseason with a number of aims for coaching and tips to hone his preparation.
“Get by way of the playbook half-hour, 40 minutes, an hour every day, 24 hours every single day,” Williams mentioned. “If you cannot quit an hour or half-hour to go over your playbook, you most likely should not be on this place. It was simply small issues like that. Homework-wise it was primarily the footwork after which some left, quick throws that in OTAs [that] I used to be lacking. So labored on that each single day that I threw and went by way of my footwork every single day that I used to be on the market as properly.”
One foremost goal inside these homework assignments is to assist Williams minimize down on the 68 sacks he took as a rookie.
Whereas the Bears have improved the go safety round Williams with the offseason additions of guards Joe Thuney and Jonah Jackson and middle Drew Dalman, together with a three-player competitors at left deal with about to happen at coaching camp, the quarterback shoulders duty for avoiding pointless hits and goals to place his offseason coaching into motion.
“A part of it’s my footwork and that lining up with the play,” Williams mentioned. “That helps speed up the clock for me. The opposite half is being decisive, making a choice. After which the opposite half is taking what the protection provides me and never looking for that huge play each time, not being that younger cat and eager to go and get that huge play, that huge scramble play or something like that. Generally that is only a checkdown of the ball within the flat, or the second learn that might not be one thing greater than 5 yards.”
