Ben Johnson Drops Encouraging Quote About Caleb Williams

There's no doubt that right now Caleb Williams has a ton of pressure riding on him heading into the 2026 NFL season. The former number one overall pick has put the Chicago Bears back on the map, but last season wasn’t the ceiling.

When you look at Williams, there aren’t a lot of concerns about whether he can make the big plays. We saw that going back to his college days at USC. Where concern lies is his ability to make simple NFL throws consistently.

Not only that, but arguably one of the biggest hurdles a young quarterback has to overcome is being able to process an NFL defense. Ben Johnson spoke to reporters about the development of Williams.

Hearing Johnson talk about things slowing down regarding Williams is a huge deal, and it’s something that Bears fans can get excited about. 

What Does 2026 Look Like for Caleb Williams?

We know that Williams can make plays few other quarterbacks can, but he has to round out his game a bit more.

With that being said, the sky is the limit for Williams. There’s absolutely a world where he has a monster 2026 season and becomes seen as a top-five quarterback in the NFL.

Think about Drake Maye, a player selected after Williams in that same 2024 NFL draft class. With Williams, there’s a reason that he was selected above Maye, and that’s because he can be even better.

At the end of the day, it comes down to whether Williams having better anticipation and not rushing will allow him to take care of the ball a bit better. When you see Williams only had seven interceptions last year, that doesn’t seem like a lot, but 27 touchdowns isn’t where he wants to be either.

Instead of just touchdown to interception ratio, PFF uses a metric called Big-Time Throws versus Turnover-Worthy Plays, which helps tell that same story. In 2025, Williams had 28 BTT but also 19 TWP.

If Williams is able to make these strides that Johnson was talking about during the 2026 NFL season, expect his BTT mark to jump even higher while his TWP mark goes down.