Bears QB Caleb Williams: Lions OC Ben Johnson has been ‘really cool to watch’

Bears quarterback Caleb Williams likely won’t get any say in their upcoming coaching search, but he’s paying attention to the top candidates.

The favorite to get the job is Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, and Williams watched him work in Detroit’s 31-9 win over the Vikings on Sunday to clinch the No. 1 seed in the NFC.

Williams highlighted some play calls from the Lions-Vikings game and said of Johnson, “He’s done that all year. It’s been really cool to watch.”

Williams noted that he had an eye on the Lions’ offense in the Bears’ two games against them this season and noticed Johnson had “wrinkles and counters throughout the game.”

“During our games, I would sit back and watch and try to learn something,” Williams said. “It was fascinating to watch.”

As far as whether he’d like to see him as his new coach, Williams added, “He’s obviously done really well, and it’d be cool to see how that all goes down.”

Williams finished his rookie season with a 62.5 completion percentage (33rd among the 39 quarterbacks who threw at least 200 passes), 3,541 yards passing (17th), 20 touchdown passes (15th), six interceptions (10th fewest) and an 87.8 passer rating (24th).

Among Bears single-season leaders, he was fourth in yardage, 12th in touchdown passes and 12th in passer rating among players who threw 200 or more passes.

In the 2024 rookie class, Williams was fourth in completion percentage, third in yardage, third in touchdown passes, threw the fewest interceptions and fourth in passer rating.

Williams also has spoken highly of Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury, who was on staff at USC when he played there in 2023.