3 reasons why Caleb Williams' Bears failed to make it work with Matt Eberflus

No. 2 overall draft pick Jayden Daniels is in the NFC championship game, while No. 1 pick Caleb Williams failed to even make it into the playoffs. Williams will need an improved sophomore season if he wants to stave away the talk of being a draft bust.

He will have a new offensive mind he can tap into, as former Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson was formally introduced as the new Bears head coach.

Here are three reasons why Williams failed to make it work with former head coach Matt Eberflus.

3 reasons why Caleb Williams' Bears failed to make it work with Matt Eberflus

1. Coaching Carousel

Caleb Williams’ rookie season was more difficult with the constant turnover in the coaching staff. Offensive coordinator Shane Waldron was fired after nine games and Eberflus was fired after 12 games. The changes meant the pass game coordinator was promoted to offensive coordinator, then head coach within weeks.

He would now have to learn a new offensive system with Ben Johnson. With hindsight, the Bears should have made the move to Johnson last offseason. It was reported that Johnson had an interest in the Bears job, but the leadership team decided to stick with head coach Matt Eberflus and allowed him to hire a new offensive coordinator.

Eberflus made the mistake of choosing Waldron over current Washington Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury. The season fell into disarray with constant questions about Eberflus’ control of the locker room, and it made Williams’ assimilation into the NFL so much harder than it had to be.

2. Caleb Williams' Individual Growth

Caleb Williams would also have to take it upon himself to ensure he does everything that is asked of an NFL quarterback.

In an interview with ESPN Chicago published on Wednesday, Bears general manager Ryan Poles implied some of the responsibility fell on Williams. The host asked, “So it’s just a matter of coaching cleaning up some things. It’s not a Caleb thing, is it?”

Poles replied:

“It’s both. There’s ownership on the player as well. He knows that. We had some really good discussions. I’m pretty sure him and Ben have some discussions as well on what the expectations are of him. He needs to learn how to be a pro and do all the little things. I have got a lot of faith that it will all come together.”

The comments by Poles indicate some level of expectation will be on Caleb Williams to improve his play on the field. Williams was in attendance for the introductory press conference for new head coach Ben Johnson. The pair will have to work well together to turn around a Bears franchise that has seen minimal success in more than 70 years.

3. Poor offensive line play

If Williams is to succeed, the offensive line in front of him will need to get better. The collective unit went from 15th in 2023 to 24th this past season, despite an impressive overall outing from right tackle Darnell Wright.

The Bears quarterback was the most-sacked in the league with 68 sacks. Some of the sacks can be attributed to him as he held the ball for too long on numerous occasions. However, an improvement to the offensive line will help improve the overall performance of the team in Caleb Williams’ sophomore season.