Bears fan survey results: Ben Johnson, Caleb Williams have many believers in Chicago

New York Times

3 days ago

Nearly 4,000 Chicago Bears fans had their voices heard and made one thing clear.
There is unprecedented belief in new coach Ben Johnson.
Whether it's confidence in Johnson's play calling, optimism that he will get the best out of quarterback Caleb Williams, or his coaching style, Bears fans finally feel good about the coach — and he hasn't had his first game yet.
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Fans are excited about the Williams-Rome Odunze pairing, too. They welcome the Joe Thuney addition. And with Thuney, fellow guard Jonah Jackson and center Drew Dalman in the fold, they finally aren't too worried about the offensive line.
With training camp around the corner, let's dive into the results of our sixth annual Bears fan survey.
Confidence in Williams overall did increase, despite a sometimes shaky rookie season. Most notably, the number of Bears fans who are worried that Williams won't pan out plummeted from 7.4 percent last season to 0.6 percent this year.
The Halas Hall structure was a worst-case scenario for Williams, going through two play callers and two head coaches in his first season. But fans saw enough to still believe in his potential.
How does this compare with the pre-Year 2 perception of Justin Fields, who was about to start with a new coach after showing some flashes as a rookie? It's not as big a disparity as one might think, but Williams still has inspired more believers.
The Ben Johnson Effect was in full effect for this question, with an overwhelming majority believing the new coach and play caller will have the biggest impact on Williams. The Bears are certainly paying him to, and he has the accolades from his time with Jared Goff and the Detroit Lions that he can help Williams get to the next level.
It was somewhat surprising to see Johnson defeat the offensive line that badly, considering how long it's been since fans could feel confident about the group up front. We received several write-in votes for 'all of the above,' which beat out the rookie pass catchers. A few people also noted that Williams' simply getting the rookie experience will help him the most in Year 2.
Clunkiness prevented one of the choices from being 'holding on to the ball too long and taking sacks,' so it's possible voters considered both pocket presence and situational awareness to be examples of that, as those two traits combined for nearly 80 percent.
One storyline to track will be how in sync Williams and wide receiver DJ Moore can be this season. It never seemed to fully click last season, for myriad reasons.
The confidence meter for Johnson is off the charts. Only 42 voters selected '1' or '2.' For perspective, Johnson's 34.3 percent vote share for '5' — most confident — is nearly seven times more than what Matt Eberflus received ahead of his first season as coach.
When's the last time Bears fans could be legitimately excited about a new playbook? Matt Nagy's first season included several fun plays and an offense that ranked ninth in points scored, but you have to go back to Marc Trestman's first season (2013) to find a Bears offense that ranked better than 15th in total offense (eighth). That history is reflected in these results, with fans enthusiastic about what Johnson brings to offensive play calling.
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Here are some of the write-in responses:
'His insistence that the details are done correctly.'
'Creating a culture of accountability while still being innovative.'
'I've decided that 'coach speech' is just 'coach without any ideas speech.' I appreciate he is specific with his media answers and avoids 'coach without any ideas speech.''
'He seems like one of those superstar execs you come across — no BS, honest, curious enough to get to the depth of a problem and provide thoughtful responses. That may be hyperbole, but consider me impressed.'
No surprise Thuney won this one, but it's a little surprising how much he dominated it. That shows how much this franchise has missed out on having someone of Thuney's stature on the offensive line over the years.
Bears fans love their centers. This is the franchise of Bulldog Turner, Olin Kreutz, Jay Hilgenberg and Roberto Garza. That context helps illustrate the gap between Drew Dalman and the rest of the newcomers.
It's a similar vote share for this question, but I wanted to highlight defensive tackle Grady Jarrett, who received only 5.8 percent of the votes, well below Dalman. Jarrett's impact could be massive in the locker room, something that won't be seen in the stat sheet, and he did have only 2 1/2 sacks last season. But he didn't miss a start and still had 12 quarterback hits.
If it were up to general manager Ryan Poles, I wonder whether he hopes Dayo Odeyingbo is the ultimate answer. That would be a major win for the front office if he breaks out as a major threat off the edge.
The top three picks all generate a lot of buzz with the fans. Colston Loveland, being a top-10 pick inserted in Johnson's offense, is the obvious winner, but college football fans are well aware of Luther Burden's capabilities. And boy, how ecstatic would Bears fans be if Ozzy Trapilo winds up the long-term answer at left tackle?
This question probably shouldn't have included Williams, but I was wondering what the gap would be between the quarterback and Odunze. It's still sizable. One could perceive this question as who is going to break out, and defensive end Austin Booker would be a good option … but not many perceive it that way. More on Odunze's popularity to come.
The Bears head into 2025 with Montez Sweat, who had only 5 1/2 sacks last season, and newcomer Odeyingbo as the starting defensive ends, followed by Booker and Dominique Robinson. There's not a lot of depth, and there are a lot of questions, as seen in these results.
How about the drastic shift for the offensive line? In the history of the survey, it's the lowest percentage of people ranking the offensive line atop their concerns list.
Running back, another 'draft need' position at which the Bears didn't take anyone until Round 7, makes sense as the second-place finisher here. There will be a lot of pressure on D'Andre Swift. Quarterback came in fourth place, which doesn't necessarily jibe with the opening question about Williams. And how can fans be concerned about Williams' backups?
The trio of Moore, Odunze and Burden puts fans at ease when it comes to wide receiver. I'd probably argue that the runner-up, cornerback, is the deepest position when you consider guys like Terell Smith and Josh Blackwell are backups. It's a fun competition to compare Moore, Odunze and Burden to Jaylon Johnson, Kyler Gordon and Tyrique Stevenson.
The numbers for the Bears chairman are pretty similar to last year, likely reflective of the way the franchise was able to land Johnson as coach. Bears chairman George McCaskey's 'F' grade went down from 11.4 percent in 2024 to 4.1 percent this summer. His 'C' share did go up from 27 percent to 31.3.
This is the first time we've put the report card out for Bear president/CEO Kevin Warren. In 2023, after Warren was hired, 41 percent put '4' to rank their confidence in him, and 19.9 percent entered '5.' Those were (probably) record numbers for a Bears front-office member — at least until Johnson arrived. Two years later, a new stadium isn't under construction yet, and the team has struggled. That might explain why a plurality of voters went with 'C.' Warren's ability to help hire Johnson has to also be a factor with 'B' as a close second.
Last year, most fans weren't sucked into the Bears' announcement of putting everything into building a new stadium downtown at the museum campus. Despite the team's singular focus at this time last year on Chicago, 60.8 percent said they expected Arlington Heights to be the Bears' home in 2030.
This summer, now that we know the team has shifted back to the suburbs, that percentage went up nearly 13 points, while only 8.4 percent of you still have hope for a new stadium downtown. If the team can actually get a shovel in the ground this year, we'll have to come up with a new stadium-related question in 2026.
This might have been the most interesting distribution of votes. I did not know what to expect, but many fans seem to be unmoved by the Bears' impression of the Michael Scott 'snip snap' meme from 'The Office.' The back-and-forth between the city and the suburbs has bothered 35.8 percent of you, but most are either not at all frustrated or simply indifferent.
Williams' vote share went down slightly and Odunze's increased. There are a lot of Odunze fans in town. He has the playmaking potential and the personality to win over Chicago.
The biggest mover was Moore, who went from 17.2 percent last year down to 4.1 percent. Maybe a lot of fans already have his jersey? Maybe it's a sign of a shift to Odunze and Burden? Sweat also saw his votes decrease extensively, which isn't surprising after a tough season. Meanwhile, Jaylon Johnson saw his percentage double, and Gordon, recent recipient of a new contract, made the top eight.
Bears fans still love their punter. As I mentioned last year, jersey purchasing should include staying power. An effective punter has that, and Taylor should be here for a long time.
It's another win for Sid Luckman, his fourth in a row. However, his vote share decreased by 2.6 percent, so he'll need a strong 2025 season ahead in next summer's survey. Jay Cutler and Jim McMahon chipped away at his lead.
Williams received 40 votes, followed by Erik Kramer (23) and Kyle Orton (14). Some semblance of 'no one' received 28 votes, and there was one vote for the franchise's all-time leader in passer rating: Pat O'Donnell.
For the second year in a row, '2021 Russell Wilson saying he wanted to be traded to the Bears' got a vote. And to the voter who wrote, 'What kind of monster asks this EVERY year,' it's my sociological experiment. Maybe one day Williams will let me eliminate this question from the survey.
Another year, another dominant victory for Walter Payton, the greatest running back in NFL history. This year, he nearly quadrupled Brian Urlacher's second-place vote total. The order behind 'Sweetness' remained the same as last year — Urlacher, Devin Hester, Charles Tillman, Dick Butkus, Matt Forte and Gale Sayers.
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A few entertaining 'remember these Bears?' entries: Harold Jones-Quartey, Brad Maynard, Devin Aromashodu and Mac Percival.
ESPN 1000's Tom Waddle received 14 votes — twice as many as Williams, but four shy of Akiem Hicks.
For the second year in a row, a plurality of Bears fans believe this team can win nine games. A curiosity of expectations led me to bump the scale up to between seven and 11 wins. Last year, 9.9 percent of voters went with 'seven wins' or 'six wins or fewer.' Only 4.2 percent went with seven or fewer this year.
Somewhere between eight and 10 wins seems to be the right range for this team for 2025, and not many fans got too irrationally excited about an 11-plus-win team.
Yes, the scale was altered, but 28.9 percent of fans believe the Bears can win at least 10 games, which bests 2020's mark of 24.8 percent as the survey's high-water mark for double-digit-win optimism.
(Photo of Caleb Williams: David Banks / USA Today)