Ben Johnson evaluates Bears QB Caleb Williams in Year 3

Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson had a lot to say during his training camp press conference, including an evaluation of quarterback Caleb Williams. We knew that Williams was the main reason that Johnson took the job last year, but now he is starting to reveal just what makes the situation so good.

Part of his comments were an explanation of what makes Williams a special player. He was known to be a talented guy because he was the No. 1 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. Now, it’s about how he can take that talent and turn it into becoming a winning player at the most important position in sports.

“I mean, he’s got it all,” Johnson said. “There’s really nothing I don’t think that he can’t do. It’s just the elite arm talent, playmaking ability, escapability; he has his legs that he can hurt a defense with. I mean, there’s just so many layers to who he is as a player. I think that word consistency comes up over the course of a 60-minute game or more if we need it to, where we’re playing high-level quarterback play throughout that game. You see flashes of it. And yet, we’re trying to tap into that where we’re just consistently delivering the ball where it needs to go, giving it to our guys around us. And then we all know that he has that ability to put on that Superman cape when the time calls for it.”

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There are two messages being sent by Johnson. The first is complimentary: Williams is as talented as any quarterback and can win using his special gifts when necessary. We saw them overcome deficits late in games during the 2025 season quite often, and a lot of the time it was because of the magic that Williams can create.

The other message is that Johnson would like to see Williams become a better quarterback over the course of a 60-minute football game. He doesn’t want him to always have to put on that “Superman cape” late in games. He wants the high-level play to exist from the opening kick to the final whistle.

Because of the tools that Williams has available to him, both with his talent and the personnel around him, Johnson knows that he can unlock that type of player in his quarterback. It seems, based on this, that Johnson has that next goal for Williams to reach to level up as a player in the NFL.

This article originally appeared on Bears Wire: Ben Johnson evaluates Bears QB Caleb Williams in Year 3