There is no bigger storyline for the Chicago Bears offseason than the development of quarterback Caleb Williams, who enters his second season and with a new head coach in offensive guru Ben Johnson. The hope is Johnson will be able to elevate Williams' game and land their franchise quarterback they've been lacking for decades.
The Bears returned to Halas Hall this week for the start of the offseason program, which marked the first time players met with Johnson to prepare for the 2025 season. That included Williams getting his first work in with Johnson, where the new head coach has plans for his second-year pro.
Speaking to the media this week, Williams discussed how he's focused on working more under center, which is something that he didn't do much in his rookie season. So it's definitely an adjustment.
Johnson said that Williams will be taking more snaps from under center during the offseason program, which he didn't do much in his rookie season. Last year, the Bears were in the shotgun for 70.8% of their plays, which was tied for 16th most in the NFL. By contrast, Johnson's Detroit Lions were only in shotgun 44% of the time, which was the fewest in the league.
Simply put: Expect to see Williams under center often, which will be an adjustment for the second-year pro.
"It's the whole thing," Williams said Tuesday. "It's working [on] getting up to the line and visualizing. Saying the cadence, being under center, controlling those things, going over the routes, concepts, the footwork in your head in the offseason so when that when those times hit and it's the fourth quarter, you can't think about those things, and you can't focus on those things. It's second nature.
"And getting under there and going through cadence, going through the huddle sequence, getting up to the line, making checks if needed. It's practicing those things now, visualizing those things now and building on those."
Looking to fine tune his tools that will make Williams a more dangerous quarterback in crunch time, the Bears coaching staff will have plenty of work ahead for them. There's no denying that the Bears will only go as far as the duo of Williams and Johnson will take them, so having their second-year quarterback work on the fine traits that will elevate him to the upper tier of quarterbacks will be beneficial for all parties.
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This article originally appeared on Bears Wire: Bears offseason program: Caleb Williams explains what he's working on
