Bears’ Ben Johnson reveals throwing fix with Caleb Williams, ‘It’s just all about the alignment’

Caleb Williams has to correct his foot alignment to become an elite NFL quarterback

After some wayward throws from Caleb Williams went viral on social media earlier in training camp, there has been considerable focus on whether he is going to be able to take the next step up.

Williams has made it clear he’s not feeling the pressure, and his head coach is not worried either, but he wants to see the development of his foot alignment this season.

Johnson said with The Athletic, “It doesn’t matter what level you’re at. It always starts with the feet for a quarterback, and if you’re not aligned properly from the ground up, then you’re going to have inconsistencies with your target. That’s what we’ve been talking about.

“Specifically, for all right-handed quarterbacks, when you throw to a target that’s moving from right to left, you typically throw it behind.

“So you have to train yourself to make sure you’re open enough to throw to where he’s going to be and not where he’s at.

“That’s something we talked about going into the summer break, and something we still harp on. You can’t get enough of that. It takes a long time to develop habits. That’s the starting point.

“He’s got a beautiful throwing motion. That was ingrained into him at a young age, and that still shows up. There’s nothing mechanically wrong. It’s just all about the alignment and getting out in front of the target.”

Significantly more experienced Bears O-Line should benefit Williams’ progression

Bears GM Ryan Poles has given Caleb Williams all the weapons he needs on offense to step up to the next level, drafting WR Luther Burden III and TE Colston Loveland to expand an already impressive receiver corps.

The most impressive part of Poles’ offseason business was fortifying the offensive line with experience, and that began with trading for All-Pro lineman Joe Thuney.

The Bears’ projected starting O-Line to face the Vikings on Monday Night Football has a combined 320 starts between them, with Thuney accounting for 146 of those.

LT Braxton Jones and RT Darnell Wright both started in week one last year in Williams’ first outing, while Poles also traded with the Rams for RG Jonah Jackson to boost the interior of the line.

Poles rounded off the starting offensive line by signing a desperately needed, well-rounded center from the Atlanta Falcons , Drew Dalman.

Williams and Johnson have been given the tools to succeed; it’s now up to them to use them in the right way.