Fix pass protection. That’s the mission in Chicago, with Caleb Williams taking 68 sacks last year – the most since David Carr. But that’s easier said than done.
They’ve re-worked the offensive line, which will help, signing center Drew Dalman and trading for guards Joe Thuney and Jonah Jackson. On paper, it will be an above-average line.
They’ve also got Ben Johnson coming in to run things, and he seems like he might be one of the top half dozen offensive minds in the game.
But Caleb Williams remains a big part of the equation. He took way too many sacks at Southern Cal, and a lot of thesacks last year can be attributed to him. Too often he didn’t see open receivers or identify where the pass rush was coming from, and there were times he hung onto the ball too long, trying to scramble out of pressure.
They’ve got to get him doing a better job of playing on time – being willing to settle for quicker, shorter throws.
With some quarterbacks, that simply doesn’t happen. Justin Fields and Daniel Jones, as examples, have been fighting that battle for their entire careers. And Will Levis came back in his second season last year and was even worse than he was as a rookie.
So we’ll see. I would guess that Williams will be improved, but that he’ll still be a bottom-10 quarterback in terms of taking sacks.
I pulled up some historical numbers in this area. In the 32-team era, 15 rookie quarterbacks have started over half the season as rookies, averaging at least 3 sacks, and then started over half of the season again the next year. Of those 15, five the next season averaged even more sacks. (I’ve got those guys tagged with black dots.)
Twice as many averaged taking fewer sacks, including six of those 10 who averaged at least a sack less per week. That’s the group the Bears are hoping Williams lands in.
| ROOKIE QUARTERBACKS TAKING SACKS | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | St | Sack | Avg | Next | Diff |
| 2002 | David Carr | 16 | 76 | 4.75 | 1.36 | 3.39 |
| 2014 | Blake Bortles | 13 | 55 | 4.23 | 3.19 | 1.04 |
| 2024 | Caleb Williams | 17 | 68 | 4.00 | ? | ? |
| 2023 | Bryce Young | 16 | 62 | 3.88 | 2.42 | 1.46 |
| 2002 | Chad Hutchinson | 9 | 34 | 3.78 | .00 | -- |
| 2021 | • Justin Fields | 10 | 36 | 3.60 | 3.67 | -.07 |
| 2018 | • Josh Rosen | 13 | 45 | 3.46 | 5.33 | -1.87 |
| 2021 | Zach Wilson | 13 | 44 | 3.38 | 2.56 | .83 |
| 2010 | Jimmy Clausen | 10 | 33 | 3.30 | 3.00 | .30 |
| 2014 | Teddy Bridgewater | 12 | 39 | 3.25 | 2.75 | .50 |
| 2020 | Joe Burrow | 10 | 32 | 3.20 | 3.19 | .01 |
| 2019 | • Daniel Jones | 12 | 38 | 3.17 | 3.21 | -.05 |
| 2015 | Marcus Mariota | 12 | 38 | 3.17 | 1.53 | 1.63 |
| 2023 | • Will Levis | 9 | 28 | 3.11 | 3.42 | -.31 |
| 2013 | • Mike Glennon | 13 | 40 | 3.08 | 3.20 | -.12 |
| 2011 | Christian Ponder | 10 | 30 | 3.00 | 2.00 | 1.00 |
| 2019 | Kyler Murray | 16 | 48 | 3.00 | 1.69 | 1.31 |
| 2011 | Blaine Gabbert | 14 | 40 | 2.86 | 2.20 | .66 |
| 2024 | Drake Maye | 12 | 34 | 2.83 | ? | ? |
| 2021 | Davis Mills | 11 | 31 | 2.82 | 2.07 | .75 |
| 2013 | EJ Manuel | 10 | 28 | 2.80 | 1.50 | 1.30 |
| 2024 | Jayden Daniels | 17 | 47 | 2.76 | ? | ? |
| 2019 | • Gardner Minshew II | 12 | 33 | 2.75 | 3.38 | -.63 |
| 2013 | Geno Smith | 16 | 43 | 2.69 | 2.15 | .53 |
| 2017 | Mitchell Trubisky | 12 | 31 | 2.58 | 1.71 | .87 |
| 2012 | Andrew Luck | 16 | 41 | 2.56 | 2.00 | .56 |
| 2018 | Josh Allen | 11 | 28 | 2.55 | 2.38 | .17 |
| 2023 | • C.J. Stroud | 15 | 38 | 2.53 | 3.06 | -.53 |
| 2017 | DeShone Kizer | 15 | 38 | 2.53 | .00 | -- |
—Ian Allan