The Chicago Bears’ decision to hire Ben Johnson as their head coach has spawned a wide range of reactions across the NFL world.
While many people are happy about the imaginative former Detroit Lions offensive coordinator landing a well-deserved head coaching role, others are skeptical about his fit with 2024 No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams.
Dan Orlovsky Among NFL Analysts Questioning Ben Johnson’s Fit With Caleb Williams
Last month, before the NFL postseason started and coordinators began interviewing for roles across the league, Ben Johnson was viewed as an almost surefire bet to land a head coaching role. There were quite a few hints that the Bears were a strong contender to hire him.
At the time, former NFL quarterback and current ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky appeared on “This Is Football” and was asked about Johnson’s fit with the Bears. Orlovsky pushed back on Johnson to Chicago, pointing out that he and Williams may not work well together.
“What’s Caleb Williams’ biggest issue? It was in college, it was in the NFL — he just doesn’t play that quickly with completions,” he explained. “He’s wildly talented, 100%, and so you would have to make sure that whether it’s the head coach that you hire or the person that he brings offensive system-wise, you have to have a play-caller and an offensive scheme that bakes in easy completions for that guy.”
Orlovsky mentioned that coaches like Andy Reid and Matt Nagy fit this description, but Johnson does not.
“We don’t see it a ton with Ben Johnson, that’s the interesting thing. We don’t,” Orlovsky said. “[The Lions) create easy completions with their scheme, but that’s because — when I say easy completions, I’m talking about, ‘Hey, we’re calling this and throwing it.’ We’re seeing it with Sean Payton and Bo Nix.
“You have to make sure that you get that built into his (Caleb Williams’) game early on his second year, so he starts to get a little more comfortable and you ratchet that stuff up more — we’ve seen that with Kliff Kingsbury and Jayden [Daniels].
“I think that’s gotta be a paramount thing, just to minimize what has been still a little bit of a growing-pain flaw of his. I think finding baked-in completions for him where you’re almost doing the thinking for him is paramount.”
When asked if Chicago should hire Johnson anyway despite the strange fit with Williams, Orlovsky advised Bears president Kevin Warren to “entertain others” rather than hire Johnson. He explained his thought process.
“My reason is this: if you have just watched the emergence of Ben Johnson as a play-caller with Jared Goff, I can very clearly tell you that one of the reasons why it has worked so well is that Jared plays on time so well. Jared is a rhythm passer…” Orlovsky said. “There’s a rhythm to that play-calling and pass game.
“That’s not necessarily Caleb’s strong point. It’s not! Now, can he get there? Of course, any player can get there. But you’d have to be very confident after you dive in and spend time with him that you think he’d be able to operate that kind of system that, again, is built on listening to your feet and when they tell you to throw. That’s why I would be a little more weary of [this pairing]. While that player is unbelievably talented and that coach is unbelievably creative, together, is that the perfect marriage? I don’t know if I’m there yet.”
It’s worth noting that Orlovsky isn’t the only NFL analyst who has expressed this concern. For example, Thor Nystrom of Fantasy Life had a similar take. Now that Johnson has officially been hired by Chicago, it makes sense to revisit their concerns.
“Ben Johnson/Caleb Williams is not a good stylistic fit,” Nystrom said. “It’s a movie director who wants the actors to follow the script as written with a leading actor who’s only ever improv’d. Can they make it work? Johnson obv believes he can. They’re both individually gifted. I’m dubious,” he posted.
Ben Johnson/Caleb Williams is not a good stylistic fit.
It’s a movie director who wants the actors to follow the script as written with a leading actor who’s only ever improv’d.
Can they make it work? Johnson obv believes he can. They’re both individually gifted.
Im dubious. https://t.co/Lag1YGjv1i
— Thor Nystrom (@thorku) January 20, 2025
One week earlier, he described Williams as the worst possible fit for Johnson.
“If u created a QB in a lab most antithetical to the way Johnson calls offensive football, u’d get Caleb Williams,” he wrote. “Johnson has, and has had, options — why would he go to a division rival to try to fit a square peg into a round hole?”
Johnson clearly believes Williams can make this work or he wouldn’t have accepted the job, but it’s interesting to see a number of people raise these concerns.
How Did Johnson Help Jared Goff in Detroit?
Johnson joined the Lions’ offense in 2019, and he was elevated to the role of offensive coordinator during the 2022 NFL season. He helped Detroit average an NFL-best 33.1 points per game this season while also ranking No. 1 in PFN’s Offense+ metric.
The unit’s stock soared this season, but the improvement was a steady progression, highlighting Johnson’s lasting impact rather than just a one-season surge:
- 2021 (before Johnson took over): 19.7% TD rate
- 2022: 29.5% TD rate
- 2023: 30.5% TD rate
- 2024: 37.4% TD rate
Goff has made notable strides under Johnson, posting career-highs in completion percentage, yards per pass, and touchdowns. In each of his three seasons before Johnson became his offensive coordinator, Goff posted QB+ grades that placed him in the bottom half of the NFL:
- 2019: 73.7 (C) grade ranked 19th
- 2020: 72.4 (C-) grade ranked 24th
- 2021: 63.8 (D) grade ranked 26th
However, in the three seasons after Johnson became the offensive coordinator, Goff improved his QB+ grade each season and never ranked outside the top six.
- 2022: 84.0 (B) grade ranked 6th
- 2023: 84.1 (B) grade ranked 4th
- 2024: 92.5 (A-) grade ranked 2nd
Williams ranked 33rd out of 39 qualifying quarterbacks in 2024 with a 63.1 (D) grade in QB+, almost the exact same figure Goff received in 2021 before Johnson took over.
Williams has proven to be a safe decision-maker when it comes to avoiding interceptions. He was intercepted on just 1.1% of his passes, the lowest rate for any QB who threw 500+ passes as a rookie (Justin Herbert previously held the record at 1.7%).
It is clear that Johnson is walking into a team that has quite a bit of talent. It remains to be seen how he will fit with Williams, but their marriage is certainly worth watching.
