Caleb Williams' NFL-leading stats prove Ben Johnson is working his offensive magic

There has been a debate all season about the progression of Caleb Williams.

He is obviously getting better, but plenty are quick to credit the Chicago Bears head coach before the starting quarterback. One stat that backs this is the wide-open target rate. 

According to NFL Researcher, Williams leads the NFL in passing yards and touchdowns due to wide-open targets. He is using Next Gen Stats to determine who is wide-open. 

Is Ben Johnson making life easier for Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams?

This tracks when you watch the team. How often do you see Williams hit a player in the end zone with no one around them? Or, how often do you see someone get hit with countless yards in front of him? It is not your eyes playing tricks on you; these players are open more often than not. 

This is clearly due to Ben Johnson. He is excellent at route concepts and does a great job getting his players open. His opening script is always strong, and if you broke down the wide-open stats by quarter, he probably dominates in the first. 

Still, some of this comes back to Williams. Williams is a playmaker. He scrambles, he buys time, and he makes throws that some defenders do not expect him to make. All of these traits help get players wide-open just as much as a good scheme. 

Williams has also missed wide-open players. The thought is that Johnson can continue to do this, and Williams has moments as well. As Williams gets more comfortable in the scheme and starts to get more confident in what he can do, there should be even more chances for Williams to create big plays for wide-open players in future years. 

It has been noted that Jared Goff was not at his best in the Johnson scheme until his third season. Williams is much more of a creative passer and can make more plays off-script than Goff. This could make the Bears have a much more lethal passing attack than many expect. 

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Johnson will get all of the credit, but the real thought is that Williams could really take advantage of this in the years to come.