How does Caleb Williams take the next step?

CHICAGO (WGN) — The sun is about to rise on a brand new Bears season where the anticipation surrounding Caleb Williams knows no bounds, but ‘thee’ question still remains.

How does he go from the rookie quarterback we saw in a lost season, to where no Bears quarterback has gone before?

After months of offseason preparation, the answer is simple.

Footwork. Timing. Know the offense. Develop the rhythm.

From the moment Ben Johnson and Williams could start working together over the offseason, the governor was off, and incremental details in Johnson’s master plan flowed freely from head coach to quarterback, and back to head coach.

It started with identifying where Williams needed to plant his feet before a play even had the chance to get off the ground. The two got together and determined it would be best for Williams to start with his left foot forward ahead of the snap, instead of his right.

“I’ve done it a number of ways in my time in the league and over the last few years, I’ve gravitated toward that,” Johnson said in late May. “It’s something I feel pretty strongly about … It helps, certainly, with the quick game from the gun, and then it helps us with being a little better [on our] throwing posture for other things we’re asking him to do.

“When we talked about it initially, he was already exploring that himself. So, it wasn’t so much us telling him to do it, it was a mutual, ‘Yeah, let’s see what this looks like,’ and I think he’s taken a knack to it.”

Having Williams do something as simple as start with his left foot forward is all about creating healthy habits for Johnson, who’s a big believer in the 21-day rule—the belief that if someone can commit to a habit for 21 straight days, it becomes “unconscious” after that.

“It’s a constant thing. Regardless of if we’re here for the next 15 years together, [footwork will] be something that I work on in season, out of season,” Williams said in late July. “I’m going to keep working at it. Be as smooth and in rhythm of the plays, the concepts, play actions, under center, making everything line up and look the same but be different.

“I feel comfortable. I’m excited.”

From there, Williams’ homework bled from footwork into “pre-snap procedure” and different types of throws.

“The pre-snap procedure—it goes from how fast I can get the call, to get it to them as fluid and smooth as possible. Then being able to get up to the ball and get going if we have checks and alerts,” Williams said. “It’s not always having to run through the whole cadence. It’s like, I know what’s about to happen, get to the next play, let’s get it going.

“That’s one of our best friends. It’s being able to get up to the line, make whatever we need to make [happen] and then get rolling and put the defense on their heels.”

The former Heisman Trophy winner said he would take notes on play calls and make voice recordings so he could listen back to them when he was away from team facilities. Williams would even spend time practicing calls and cadences on the go.

“That was a big part of it. Then also just speaking it in the car, going over my cadence in the car while I’m driving,” Williams said. “Small things like that. Getting really comfortable with the small things. It helps everything be a little bit more fluid.”

Johnson has emphasized footwork guiding short and intermediate throws with Williams—specifically, short-range throws to his left—throughout offseason OTAs and training camp leading up to the regular season.

“Homework wise, it was mainly the footwork. Then [there were] some left short throws in OTAs I was missing,” Williams said. “[I] worked on those every single day that I threw. [I] worked on my footwork every single day that I was out there.”

According to Pro Football Focus, 9.8% of Williams’ throws in 2024 were to his short left. He completed 45 of 55 possible passes in the area, which went for 308 yards, 3 TD passes, and an interception. He earned a 69.0 passing grade on such throws.

This preseason, Williams logged an 84.9 passing grade on short throws to his left, which made up 20% of his pass attempts.

To borrow basketball terminology, Johnson wants Williams to consistently cash in on his layups before he moves on to the midrange or crosses over into any step-back threes. Williams is already capable of hitting his jump shots, but his head coach believes he will be all the more effective if opposing defenses respect his ability to drive to the rack.

“The details, being on top of it. The huddle … all these different things matter,” Williams said during offseason OTAs. “Especially in big games and big moments, all the little things come up so, I think that’s important to him and that’s important to us … [It’s] the Ben Johnson effect.”

Once footwork and throwing mechanics were added to his plate, Williams’ next entrée came in the form of timing during in-game situations—something that has been a bit of a mixed bag this preseason.

Across six series, Williams completed 17 of 25 passes for 220 yards and two touchdowns with no turnovers. Great counting stats at first glance, but if the two touchdown drives are subtracted, the numbers become much more pedestrian.

Seven completions in 13 pass attempts for 51 yards across four drives that amounted to three punts and a field goal.

After the Bears’ comeback victory against the Kansas City Chiefs at the end of their preseason slate, Williams addressed the inconsistencies.

“I think some of it is just timing. I think some of it is trusting the guys and some of it is also having my feet and eyes in the same place,” Williams said. “For instance, there was one time when I ended up missing Rome [Odunze] because my feet were too fast and I was trying to get through all my reads.”

The throw Williams referenced was on third-and-5 from the Chiefs’ 10-yard line. Odunze ended up being doubled covered after the safety drifted into the back of the end zone over the middle of the field, and instead of dumping it off to D’Andre Swift out of the backfield at the end of his read, Williams forced a throw to Odunze that fell incomplete.

When compared to his 36-yard TD pass to Olamide Zaccheaus against the Bills or the 3-yard back shoulder bullet he delivered to Odunze during the two-minute drill at the end of the first half later that game, it was a moment that showed growth often doesn’t come on a straight or linear path.

But when it comes to the body of work assembled by Williams since the Johnson administration arrived at Halas Hall, his teammates have taken notice of the young quarterback that teeters on the edge of fanaticism when it comes to perfecting his craft.

That includes multi-time All-Pro and Super Bowl champion Joe Thuney.

“He’s communicating with the offensive line. I think he’s done a great job of telling us the play and the snap count and everything,” Thuney said. “There are so many things that go on that, as an offensive lineman, I just listen to what I need to hear and try and execute on that play. 

“Caleb works tirelessly. He’s always in his playbook. He’s in early, in late, working hard. I think he’s done a great job as camp’s gone on, just being a leader for this offense and getting it going.”

Of course, when the Monday night lights come on at Soldier Field, the endless number of reps Williams took over the summer—both with his teammates and by himself—will be elements of the past. The disastrous 5-12 rookie season that showed flashes of Williams’ brilliance will be even further in the rearview mirror.

As Johnson put it last Tuesday, every game comes with a limited number of opportunities to go out on the field and make enough plays to bring home a win.

“We’ve just got to be focused. We’ve got to be intentional. We like to talk about, if we get 70 plays in a game, those are 70 bullets for us to shoot off and we need each one to count,” Johnson said. “There are no breather plays in this league. Each [play] is really important. The details are really important and I think it’s going to add up and we’ll be just fine.”

How can Williams make sure those “bullets” count and (hopefully) help the Bears start off on the right foot?

In the words of Drew Dalman, just focus “on one task at a time” and “develop a rhythm.”

“Just focusing on—it may be a bit cliche—but focusing on one task at a time. On any given play, you have a whole sequence of ‘let’s get the play correct for all of us,’” Dalman said. “Let’s all get lined up correctly. Let’s all remember the snap count, every player on the field.

“I feel like when you break your job down into individual tasks like that, you can rattle them off [and] quickly develop a rhythm throughout the game. For young players, as well as for all players, it’s finding that groove of putting your focus on the right thing at the right time, and that just progresses. We’ll all be talking about that. We’ll all be working through it as the season begins.”