Bears hire Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson as new QB head coach Caleb Williams

The Chicago Bears are hiring Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, their top candidate in a long time, to be their next head coach, CBS Sports NFL Insider Jonathan Jones reports.

The Lions’ Johnson-led offenses have scored an average of 29.0 points per game since he became Detroit’s OC in 2022, the most in the NFL in that time. The 33.2 points per game they produced in 2024 led the league and were the most in a single season in franchise history. Detroit’s offense was No. 1 in the NFL in many key metrics during his tenure with the Lions while working with quarterback Jared Goff.

Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs led the NFL in scrimmage touchdowns (20) in 2024, and wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown earned back-to-back first-team All-Pro selections in 2023 and 2024 after becoming the first player in Lions history with 100 or more. catches, 1,000 or more receiving yards and 10 or more receiving touchdowns in consecutive seasons.

At the age of 38, Johnson will now be tasked with elevating 2024 No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams and weapons like wide receiver DJ Moore, wide receiver Rome Odunze, wide receiver Keenan Allen, l tight end Cole Kmet and former Lions running back D’Andre Swift. in the future after Chicago had the fifth-worst offense in the league in 2024, averaging 18.2 points per game.

Williams threw for 3,541 passing yards, 20 passing touchdowns and six interceptions while completing 62.5 percent of his passes for a passer rating of 87.8. One of Johnson’s top priorities will be strengthening an offensive front that has allowed Williams to be sacked 68 times in 2024, tied for the third-most ever in a single season. However, many of those sacks can be directly attributed to the Bears quarterback with an average throw time of 3.13 seconds in 2024, the fourth longest in the entire league.

The Bears, as a team, allowed a quarterback pressure rate of 35.4%, which was around league average with a ranking of 18th in the NFL last season. Williams was the first Chicago quarterback to start every game in a season since Jay Cutler in 2009, ending the longest such active drought in the NFL. However, the Bears still have a drought. Johnson and Williams could help put an end to it: They have never had a quarterback throw for 4,000 yards in a season, despite 105 seasons in the NFL. This remains the longest drought of all time.

*Ranked out of 36 qualified quarterbacks in 2024

Johnson will inherit the NFL’s 13th-ranked defense (21.8 points per game allowed) entering the 2024 season with some Pro Bowl staples in edge rusher Montez Sweat and cornerback Jaylon Johnson. As Johnson’s former boss Dan Campbell showed, recruiting coordinators can dramatically improve a franchise’s fortunes. It’s time for the NFL’s first head coach, Johnson, to get to work finding his defensive and special teammates in Chicago.