NFL combine: O-line? Pass rush? Whatever the Bears do, it will be with helping Caleb Williams in mind

INDIANAPOLIS – Near the end of last summer’s season of “Hard Knocks,” the HBO series showed a clip of Giants general manager Joe Schoen chatting with Chicago Bears GM Ryan Poles at an early-season college football game in August.

“Gotta be nice not looking at the, uh ...” Schoen said to Poles.

To which Poles responded: “Quarterback?”

Poles followed up with: “Yeah, hopefully it stays that way for a long time.”

As the NFL descended upon Indianapolis this week for the NFL Scouting Combine, the Bears can rest assured knowing they don’t have to deal with the stress that comes with whether to draft a quarterback or not.

Poles made his move last year when the Bears selected Caleb Williams with the No. 1 overall pick in the draft. Schoen and the Giants, who passed on several QBs last year when they drafted receiver Malik Nabers at No. 6 overall, are staring down another offseason of QB uncertainty. The Giants hold the No. 3 pick in a draft that is widely considered to feature only two viable quarterbacks at the top.

The Giants are hoping either Miami’s Cam Ward or Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders drops to them at No. 3, or they could be forced to trade up if they want one of them.

In Chicago, as Poles and new head coach Ben Johnson look toward attacking the offseason, they are faced with an entirely different challenge. They must determine how best to support their young quarterback with the proper infrastructure.

It’s a different challenge. When Poles met with the media earlier this week, he answered a dozen questions for more than 11 minutes – on everything from the offensive line to pass rusher to Johnson’s influence – before the topic of the quarterback came up.

It’s a whirlwind of difference from a year ago at this time.

“He wants to start from the foundation and build up from there,” Poles said of Johnson’s plan for Williams. “I think I mentioned before, there’s some things in the development in a young quarterback you’ve got to have, and I know that he’s going to hit that first and really help him be the best professional football player he can possibly be.”

The Bears bungled their first go-around with Williams. Shane Waldron’s tenure as offensive coordinator was brief and unsuccessful.

With Johnson and a new staff in charge, the Bears are going to start with the basics.

“So for Caleb, what are the important things about playing the quarterback position at the NFL level?” Johnson said this week. “It’s as simple as the procedure of the huddle, breaking the huddle, using cadence, motions, shifts, all those things that can help attack a defense that we feel like can take another step here in Chicago.”

The Bears can’t begin their offseason program until April 7. That’s when Williams and Johnson can begin the process of reviewing what Williams liked and didn’t like in the offense last season. From there, they will begin to build a new offense that fits what Williams does well.

Johnson made it clear during his introductory news conference Jan. 22 that Williams is a big reason why he came to Chicago.

“Having a quarterback helps,” he said then.

He wouldn’t be in Chicago if he didn’t see potential in Williams. The thing that stands out the most about Williams, Johnson said this week, is his ability to keep plays alive with his feet.

“That’s really the way this league’s going right now, it seems like,” Johnson said. “As much as you want to make it pure progression, one to two to three, there’s just too much variety – the pass rush’s coming down, and to have an athlete like Caleb extend the play and potentially find an explosive down the field, that’s what gets me going a little bit.”

To have an athlete like Caleb [Williams] extend the play and potentially find an explosive down the field, that’s what gets me going a little bit.”

—  Ben Johnson, Bears head coach

Johnson noted that Williams' scrambling ability is a luxury that his previous NFL teams didn’t have. Quarterbacks Ryan Tannehill and Jared Goff, who he worked with in Miami and Detroit, respectively, were not exactly considered mobile.

Williams' abilities to keep plays alive with his feet will give Johnson an extra tool at his disposal.

“I’ve been on the other side, and I have experienced it, and it’s demoralizing when you’re on the other side, and you’re watching that happen to your defense,” Johnson said.

The Bears hope Williams will be the one “demoralizing” opposing defenses in 2025 and beyond. The entire offseason is going to be about giving him the right tools to do just that.

While the offseason conversation, at times, might become bogged down with debates about the offensive line, the pass rush or the running backs, all of that – eventually – comes back to the quarterback.