Ben Johnson: No doubt Caleb Williams "played a large component" in choosing Bears

Caleb Williams attended the introductory press conference for Bears head coach Ben Johnson on Wednesday and at one point in his opening statement, Johnson turned and directly addressed his new quarterback.

"Caleb," Johnson said, "I’m excited to work with you. But it’s going to take more than just you. And there are a lot of pieces already in place. And I can’t wait to get to work with the rest of you guys."

While Johnson said multiple times that Chicago's roster has the talent to compete, he made it plain that Williams was a key factor in accepting the Bears job, saying, "Having a quarterback helps."

"It’s clear that modern football in the NFL is quarterback-driven. That is no secret," Johnson said. "You can look at analytics, right now quarterback success is a higher predictor of winning and losing than turnover ratio — which has been for 20-plus years. That’s changed. There is no doubt, Caleb played a large component into my decision. He is a phenomenal talent that had, as many quarterbacks do, an up-and-down rookie year.

"Where I see my role is as a supporter of him. This offense will be calibrated with him in mind. We’re going to build this thing. This is not simply a dropping of a previous playbook down on the table and starting there — no. We’re ripping this thing down to the studs and we’re going to build it up with him [in mind] first and foremost, and then with the pieces around him next. I really look forward to challenging him and pushing him, as I said before, to continue to grow and develop."

As Johnson said, Williams had both positive and negative moments as a rookie. He started all 17 games for Chicago, finishing with a 62.5 percent completion rate, 3,541 passing yards, 20 touchdowns, and six interceptions. He also rushed for 489 yards, though he also took a league-high 68 sacks, losing 466 yards.

Johnson said the key to getting Williams up to speed on the new offense will be time on task and trust.

“I’ve already talked to Caleb — we’re going to have to spend a lot of time together,” Johnson said. “The play-caller and the quarterback have to be integrated. The quarterback needs to be able to see the game through the play-caller’s eyes. In my opinion, that’s the only way it works. So, we’re going to spend a lot of time together this springtime — certainly during training camp. We’ll be able to see how much headway we’ll make.

“But there’s already things I’ve talked to him about that I’ve noticed in his game that I want to address and that I want to go ahead and take a look at early and often here.”