Bear Digest

The Key Tool Bears Offense Must Use to Assist Caleb Williams

A study by The33rdTeam.com points out where Bears offensive coordinator Shane Waldron needs to go with his attack to greatly assist his rookie quarterback.

Gene Chamberlain

QB Caleb Williams loosens his legs up prior to the start of Bears minicamp.
QB Caleb Williams loosens his legs up prior to the start of Bears minicamp. / Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports
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Not only do the Bears face a year on offense with a rookie at quarterback, but also with a new coordinator and attack.

It's starting from scratch but there are directions coaches could go on offense to make it easier for Caleb Williams and on themselves. It's right there both in offensive coordinator Shane Waldron's past and in what the rest of the league is doing.

Bears tight end Cole Kmet this week pointed out Waldron's offense shouldn't be too difficult for everyone who was on the team last year.

"Schematically. West Coast (offense), everybody's running this now," Kmet said. "I'd say 70 percent of the league is running it. It's how you call it and how you go about installing it.

"Obviously Shane has his own tweaks on things. In terms of the overarching theme of the offense and the concepts and all that stuff, there’s very similar things to it."

And quarterbacks coach Kerry Joseph calls this tweaking or enhancing to benefit the quarterback a strength of Waldron's.

"It's not like you’re turning over your whole offense to a guy, but what other nuances can we do within the offense to help him be successful and put him in a great situation?" Joseph said.

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According to a study done by The 33rd Team, one way Waldron can go based on his past and the league's is using motion. It underscorees all the importance of the presnap work the Bears have been doing at OTAs and minicamp with Williams.

According to the study, the six teams using motion the most last year were the Dolphins, Rams, 49ers, Chiefs, Chargers and Packers. The Dolphins were first in offense, 49ers second, Chiefs ninth and Packers 11th. Only the Chargers didn't rank in the top half of the league in offensive yards.

Waldron's Seahawks offense used motion only 24th most, and the Bears used it 13th most last year. The difference was when Waldron's Seahawks used motion they averaged more yards than all but seven other offenses. They averaged 5.92 yards per play. Only the 49ers, Dolphins, Texans, Ravens, Bills, Lions and Chiefs gained more per play with motion than Waldron's offense.

While the Bears were top half of the league using motion last year, they weren't very good doing it, ranking only 22nd in yards gained on such plays and only 27th in yards gained on pass plays using it (6.38).

For Waldron in Seattle, the running game was particularly effective using motion on offense for Seattle at ninth with 4.45 yards a play.

It's fairly obvious motion is one key tool Waldron can use with the Bears offense to give help to Williams. It helps to make it apparent presnap what coverage opposing defenses might be in and also can help free up receivers or take defenses away from the point of attack.

The Rams have been among the best teams using it for years, as well as the 49ers. Waldron's offense is based on what the Rams do, so expect to see plenty of presnap motion and also counter motion within plays to confuse defenses.

Teams with rookie quarterbacks can use any edge they can get, even those with the top pick in the draft.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

BearDigest.com publisher Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.