Where Caleb Williams' transformation stands and what's ahead

The play-action passer

Williams is going to need to become proficient in the play-action passing game and it starts for the most part under center. The only way to get better at it is through more reps.

"It also marries into some of our (play-) action passes, and kind of how we're going to want to run our offense," Doyle said. "So, giving him reps at that, and seeing if that's something that he can get comfortable in, and that we feel like he can operate and try to be the best in the world at it, and if it's not something that fits, then, maybe we were pivoting and we're moving in a different direction. But, certainly, asking him to do that, I think, is going to be important here early to figure it out."

The end result is supposed to be making Williams into something very different than he was as a rookie.

"It's the whole thing," Doyle said. "It's working, getting up to the line. It's visualizing getting up to the line, saying the cadence, being under center, controlling those things, going over the routes, concepts, the footwork in your head in the offseason so that when those times hit–it's the fourth quarter, you can't think about those things, and you can't focus on those things–it's second nature, second habit, first nature, first habit of doing that."

The difference is going to be like night and day and can be best reflected in some of the statistics compiled by Lions QB Jared Goff compared with what the Bears asked and got from Williams as a rookie in the Shane Waldron-Thomas Brown offense. That offense he ran last year started out more like Williams was familiar with in college but now, Johnson's mantra is for players to get comfortable being uncomfortable. So Williams is being asked to learn something new with real play-action and not the RPO type of game out of the shotgun.

The biggest number reflecting the change Williams must undergo is play-action attempts and yards.

Johnson wants the play-fake and the pass to freeze the linebackers and possibly even defensive backs.

Last year, Goff threw 203 play-action passes for 2,060 yards in completions.

Williams threw only 85 for 626 yards in completions, according to Stathead via Pro Football Reference.

Williams threw it 34 times out of RPO and ran it 13 times. Goff only threw 12 and ran once.

The footwork for all of that is different, the actions Williams takes with the ball varies, and then once the play is underway will be much different.

The Bears will want bigger gains from their QB but with fewer deep throws. The yards after the catch are the key.

Last year Williams' average intended air yards was a lofty 7.9. Goff's was only 6.3. Yet Goff had 2,635 yards after the catch while Williams had only 1,866. The 2,635 by Goff was an extreme for him, but even in the first two years operating Johnson's offense he ad more with 2,147 and 2,287.

Eliminating bad throws

The footwork, the under center and the better blocking Williams should be expected to receive through their offensive line changes are all designed to eliminate the number of bad throws by Williams, to bridge that gap between what Williams did as a rookie and what Goff did. It's a big gap

Williams last year made what Stathead regarded as 110 bad throws. He made more bad throws than any quarterback in the NFL. No one else hit triple figures. Aaron Rodgers had the second-highest number of bad throws with 98. The 110 bad throws represented a whopping 21.1% of Williams' passes after a college career when he was generally regarded as on the money.

Only 69 of Goff's Lions passes were considered bad throws, or 13.5%.

The Bears need this metamorphosis of Williams to progress toward more efficient play through offseason work, as he becomes a passer more capable of taking snaps under center, executing the footwork needed and play-fakes and then throwing in time with proper footwork so the ball is on the money more often.

It's a good deal different than what he had to do or decided to do at times last year, and Johnson reported progress this past week and even from outside of practice.

"He did a great job in the downtime, just going ahead and taking it and running with it, and when the coaches weren't around, as well," Johnson said of his quarterback. "We're not talking so much about the feet and the footwork anymore with him, it's more big-picture plays, routes, ball location, coverages. It's more big-picture stuff now."

They'll keep working at the small stuff during the individual skills portions of practice, though. Achieving second nature through reps is a job in the NFL that never ends.