Ben Johnson on the trenches and quarterback trust

Tony Crumpton · Senior Editor · 6 hours ago

CHICAGO - It is nearly impossible to be a winning football team without a solid offensive line.

This reality is something head coach Ben Johnson knows and appreciates, which is why he is critically evaluating the offensive line’s performance now in training camp, especially in the padded practices.

“We go back to day one of the spring to when we left for summer break to day one at training camp and I think the message has been really consistent that camp is about competition. It’s about earning your spot on the 53. It’s about the guys that make the 53, what your role is going to be this year, at least to start the season. That always changes as the season goes on and so, that’s just another step in the process right there,” Johnson said. “We (have) eight practices in, three of which have been in pads, which is obviously the biggest indicator for offensive line play, how well they play in their pads and so, hopefully we will have a lot more clarity on who’s starting to separate themselves.”

Most of the starters on the offensive line seem to be locked in. Joe Thuney and Jonah Jackson will be the starting guards with Drew Dalman at center and Darnell Wright as the right tackle. However, there is a lot of competition for the starting left tackle position.

Whoever wins the job will have to show this training camp that they are consistent, able to pass protect, and win one-on-one matchups.

“To me, it’s consistency. It’s who’s making the least number of mental errors … Tackles, to me, have to be able to pass protect one-on-one on a regular basis and win those one-on-one matchups,” Johnson said. “So, guys that are out there that we’re not having to be conscious of with a play call to give them help all the time. That would be ideal. It’s certainly not the case everywhere I’ve been over the years. You’ve had to help them out with the play calls. But, those guys that can block a defensive end one-on-one, they’ll really be at a premium.”

In addition to getting to know almost an entirely new offensive line, quarterback Caleb Williams is also adjusting to playing under center more. As a quarterback who was used to a lot of shotgun in college, I did not take too many snaps under center last season. He only attempted 90 passes from under center last season versus 472 passes out of shotgun.

While it has not been completely smooth sailing adjusting to playing more under center, Johnson can tell Williams is getting comfortable with it.

“I haven’t seen a whole lot of stumbling blocks in terms of the under center work,” Johnson said. “For some guys, it just feels like a fish out of water. But, I have not felt that from him, even in the springtime and I know over the course of summer, he worked it a lot whether it’s drop, whether it’s play action and so, (I) don’t even know if there’s a whole lot of difference. I don’t think about it a whole lot right now in terms of calling plays.”

Last year, Williams had a rough rookie season, although in all fairness, the coaching staff did not help him all that much.

Now, with a new coaching staff with high expectations, Williams seems to be taking steps in the right direction and is being harder on himself than even Ben Johnson is.

“He’s as hard on himself as I’m being on him and he’s disappointed when we’re not spitting the plays out in the huddle the way we should or we’re not taking the proper drop or our eyes aren’t in the right place and so, he’s getting to that point where it’s more self-correction and we’re off and running from there. So, I’m really excited about where he’s at mentally.”