LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- If there's one thing the Chicago Bears affirmed during the past three months, it's how big of a draw Caleb Williams is in helping attract and closing the deal with coaches and players the team has pursued.
Getting to coach the 23-year-old quarterback entering his second season was among the top items on Ben Johnson's short list when he accepted the job as the Bears' head coach in January. For defensive tackle Grady Jarrett, who took mere hours to determine where he would continue his career after being released by the Atlanta Falcons after 10 seasons, choosing a team with a promising quarterback weighed significantly in his decision as a first-time free agent.
"Absolutely, without a doubt, especially for a vet like myself," Jarrett said. "You want to go somewhere that's got a good quarterback. ... That definitely played a factor in me coming here, because I believe that he was the No. 1 pick for a reason, and his best is obviously yet to come, being such a young player."
The Bears' brass sees that same trajectory for Williams following a 5-12 finish to his rookie season and used it as a guide for upgrading entire portions of the roster, which began with trades for guards Joe Thuney and Jonah Jackson before pursuing the top center in free agency, Drew Dalman. In six days, the Bears flipped the interior of their offensive line with three players they will rely upon to better protect the league's most-sacked quarterback (68).
"Everyone is excited about where Caleb can go," general manager Ryan Poles said. "We all know that there's a lot of growth that has to happen to get him to where he needs to be. But that excitement in terms of what he can be obviously helps get other coaches and players excited to be here and work with him and help get him to where he needs to be."
Through the first wave of free agency, Chicago has done its part to give Williams the tools he needs to be successful. Entering his second season, the onus now shifts onto the former Heisman Trophy winner to utilize the resources he's surrounded with -- from a better scheme, coaching and players -- to take the next step in his career.
"You'd seen what happened last year," Jackson said of Williams' sacks. "He'd taken a lot of hits. You got to build confidence in a young guy like that, in any quarterback, honestly. I feel like that's something we're able to bring to the table."
Coming off back-to-back All-Pro seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs, Thuney articulated his top goal in working with Williams: Give the quarterback as much time as possible to make plays.
The 32-year-old, four-time Super Bowl champion was proficient in doing that for Patrick Mahomes. In Thuney's four seasons with the Chiefs (2021 to 2024), Mahomes threw 393 passes while holding the ball for four-plus seconds, the only player in the league with at least 350 pass attempts of that length, according to ESPN Research. In that same span, 11 quarterbacks were sacked more often than Mahomes (117), and his pressure percentage (32) since 2021 ranks 16th in the league.
There were moments where Williams did have ample time to throw the ball but wound up taking sacks or committing negative plays. According to NFL Next Gen Stats, Williams was sacked 28 times while holding onto the ball for at least five seconds, which was the most in the NFL.
Nearing the end of a roller-coaster rookie season, Williams made an impassioned plea in hopes of deflecting heat from his oft-criticized offensive line. Williams disagreed with the sentiment that his offensive line had failed him and blamed himself for "stupid" sacks that he could have avoided.
There's plenty of blame to be shared between the quarterback and the Bears' 2024 O-line, but Johnson and Poles saw the need to better protect Williams so he wouldn't be in those dire situations as often.
With a revamped offensive line, the sacks Williams takes in 2025 will be looked at differently, and a lack of talent (Thuney and Jackson had the two highest pass block win rates of the 94 players with at least 60 pass block plays with a win or loss at guard last season) around the 23-year-old QB won't be as valid of an excuse.
Dalman has experience working with a rookie QB. The lessons that the veteran center, who signed a three-year, $42 million contract with the Bears, acquired in working with Michael Penix Jr. are ones he aims to bring to Chicago.
"I think the biggest things are your focus can only be on so many things at once, and there are things that his focus needs to be on and they can't be on anybody else's plate, and there are things that can be handled by other people," Dalman said. "So things like the snap count, protection or the run game, the less he has to worry about it and the more we as an O-line can communicate together and diagnose together, the less he has to do it and the more he can focus on the things that are exclusive to him, and so I think that process played out a little bit with Mike and then I imagine it will carry over the same."
A year ago, the narrative surrounding Williams after the Bears used the top pick in the draft to secure a franchise quarterback was that the was entering the best situation -- maybe ever -- for a QB. But the weaknesses up front couldn't be masked by inexpensive free agents and a lack of quality depth.
It's what made players like Dalman rise to the "very, very top of our list," according to Poles. To give Williams the best chance for success means not making him do it all on his own, and the caliber of players in front of him, starting with Chicago's top free agent acquisition, will be pivotal to the leaps he makes in Year 2.
"Those two guys need to see the game the same way," Johnson said of Williams and Dalman. "Much like I was talking about the quarterback needs to see the game through the playcaller's eyes, same thing with the quarterback and the center position, between the run game, making sure the perimeter unit is locked in with what the core is doing, and then in pass pro, everyone needs to know where our issues are so that we're not getting stuck in some bad situations.
"This day in age, I think the hardest problems defenses give us is schematically in the pass-rush game, blitz pickup and those things, particularly on third down. I feel strongly that Drew is going to have the acumen to help us out and problem-solve. There's unscouted looks each and every week that, as long as you understand the rules of protection, we can figure it out, but everything's happening quickly. It's a fun challenge, and I know Drew and Caleb are looking to grow together that way."
