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Caleb Williams Had the Right Idea All Along Says NFL Passing Study

One of the biggest complaints about the Bears quarterback's play turns out to be something most other QBs in the league are doing now as well.
Gene Chamberlain|
Bears quarterback Caleb Williams throws downfield after moving out of the pocket against the Raiders.
Bears quarterback Caleb Williams throws downfield after moving out of the pocket against the Raiders. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

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Chicago Bears

Bears coach Ben Johnson gets credit for being a cutting-edge type because of his reliance on the running game and play-action passing.

Playing multiple tight ends is another reason for this reputation. His use of two or three tight ends has been among the league's highest percentages throughout his time as a coordinator and head coach, and now other teams are imitating him.

Now, it seems Johnson is a trend-setting coach in another way and it's because his quarterback would also seem to be another trend setter.

It is becoming more and more accepted for quarterbacks to hold the football longer before throwing, although one of the qualities often drawing Williams criticism has been that he holds onto the ball too long. It seems Williams knew what he was doing more than his critics knew what they were saying, because this is the way the entire league is going. Williams was just ahead of the curve.

According to Pro Football Focus' Daire Carragher, the amount of time NFL quarterbacks have held the ball has increased every season since 2020. It reached 2.86 seconds last year. While Williams is not close to 2.86, the trend is coming his way.

According to PFF, Williams took 3.23-plus seconds to throw last year. Not all clockings of QBs are the same but Williams is among the slowest to get rid of it no matter who is using the stop watch. NFL Next Gen Stats, for instance, had him at 3.2 seconds last year, second slowest. Only Shedeur Sanders was slower to get rid of it.

Williams actually held it longer than his rookie year, when PFF had him at 3.03 and NFL Next Gen at 2.92.

Why passes come out slower

They're all holding the ball longer, though, or at least many of them. Carragher maintains, because they are throwing deeper routes and looking for the bigger gains. It's here where Williams has yet to reach a level he's capable of getting. He hasn't yet averaged 7.0 yards per attempt in his two seasons, a very key stat. If he get into the mid-7s, the Bears' passing game will take on an extremely explosive look.

Williams has the right idea. He just needs more completions on the longer routes. He improved from 12th to eighth among starters in average intended air yards on his passes, according to NFL NextGen Stats.

Just because a quarterback is holding it longer to throw isn't necessarily good, but Matthew Stafford has dropped his time from 2.6 to 2.74 seconds and other QBs like Joe Burrow, Brock Purdy, Jordan Love, Kyler Gordon, Trevor Lawrence and Baker Mayfield also slowed down.

It's the way offenses are evolving. They're running more, running more play-action passes and looking to strike deeper. This is exactly what Williams is doing, and where Johnson's offense has helped take him. It's better being on the cutting edge than trailing offensive trends, and it's just another reason the Pro Football Network had labeled their offense the third best entering the 2026 season.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.

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