Ben Johnson + Caleb Williams = Fantasy QB1? 🐻

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• ESPN’s Adam Schefter said that the Saints and Steelers are the most ‘plausible’ destinations for Colorado QB Shedeur Sanders in the draft

  • The consensus two top quarterbacks in this class, Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders have seen their draft stocks trend in opposite directions since the end of the 2024 NFL season, with Ward likely locking up his status as the first overall pick while Sanders and Sanders sliding down boards as of late. Sanders was largely mocked to go to Cleveland or New York at picks 2 or 3 originally, but since then, reports have emerged that neither team is exactly enamored with the idea of making Shedeur their QB of the future – at least at that price. As a result, Sanders’ name has become something of a wild card in NFL Draft discussion, and Schefter says that the Saints at No. 9 and the Steelers at No. 21 make the most sense for the former Colorado signal caller. The Steelers notoriously have no starting quarterback outside of Mason Rudolph on the roster at this point, and despite being the favorite to land Aaron Rodgers this offseason, they’ve neglected to pull the trigger with just two weeks to go until the draft at the end of the month. Sanders would have to fall much further for Pittsburgh to have a chance to snatch him up than he would for the Saints, who could take a swing on him as a potential Derek Carr replacement and franchise QB to pair with new HC Kellen Moore. Landing in Pittsburgh would likely be the preferred destination from a fantasy perspective given that he’d have George Pickens, D.K. Metcalf, and proven competent coaching, but the likes of Olave, Shaheed, and Kamara with Kellen Moore calling plays offers plenty of intrigue, as well.

• The Giants are reportedly ‘doing a lot of homework on running backs’ heading into the draft this month, per Giants beat writer Art Stapleton

  • Given the quality and depth of talent down the board at running back in the 2025 class, every team should be doing their homework and considering drafting one – but it sounds like the Giants could be doing more than just the due diligence warranted by a class as strong as this one. Tyrone Tracy Jr. had a very solid rookie season totaling over 1000 yards from scrimmage for the team in 2024, but was inconsistent at times when it came to opportunity and effectiveness both in fantasy and real life. Tracy likely deserves to be the primary back for New York in a room that features only Devin Singletary as meaningful competition, but if the Giants would add a high-profile running back to the mix – think Quinshon Judkins, Cam Skattebo, or even Omarion Hampton or Kaleb Johnson – his chances of maintaining RB1-worthy opportunity would come down significantly. Of course, this is just a general report and there’s no concrete indicator suggesting that the Giants plan to use premium draft capital at the position, but it’s certainly not helping to quell any concerns about Tracy’s potential of holding onto the lead job in that backfield, either.

• Titans GM Mike Borgonzi says that wide receiver is a ‘position [the Titans'] are going to have to attack’ through the draft and waivers

  • Let’s hope for Cam Ward’s sake that the Titans choose to address the issue early in the draft and not rely on the latter option to flesh out their receiving corps for the 2025 season. Outside of Calvin Ridley, who Tennessee signed to a lucrative three year deal ahead of the 2024 season, things are extremely thin at pass catcher for the Titans: Treylon Burks is a former first-round pick himself but hasn’t been able to kick the injury bug, Van Jefferson is solid depth but doesn’t belong in a No. 2 role, and Chig Okonkwo – despite flashing potential as one of the more athletic tight ends in the NFL – hasn’t shown an ability to be consistently relied on. Of course, it’s been difficult for any Titans pass catcher to put themselves on the map given the state of the team’s QB situation over the past few years; Will Levis has looked like the experimental QB he was tabbed as in the 2023 draft two years ago, and after missing the mark on multiple opportunities to claim the long-term starting role, the Titans appear to be a lock to draft the aforementioned Ward 1st overall. With Ridley running primarily on the outside, an explosive slot receiver like Emeka Egbuka or Luther Burden III could make sense, as would a flanker like Elic Ayomanor. Ridley’s role as the Titans WR1 is likely safe, but it’s no guarantee that the offense will be high enough quality to sustain him or another receiver at even a top-20 level.

During the NFL’s annual league meeting last week, new Bears HC Ben Johnson talked about his plan heading into his first offseason with the team and QB Caleb Williams. Specifically, Johnson noted that he planned to work on Williams’ ‘comfort level’ under center after Williams ran the majority of his dropbacks last season out of the gun.

This will be Ben Johnson’s second time taking up the task of refining the edges of a quarterback’s game, the first time coming during his time in Detroit with QB Jared Goff. And if the results from Goff’s first year in Ben Johnson’s system are any indicator, then Caleb Williams may very well enjoy a strong breakout into fantasy QB1 territory in 2025.

Jared Goff saw huge jumps in raw production in his first year with Ben Johnson as the play caller: he threw for more than 1000 extra pass yards in 2022 compared to 2021, 10 more touchdowns, one fewer interception, averaged one yard per attempt more than in 2021, boosted his QBR up nearly 20 points, and his cut sack rate nearly in half. Coincidentally, Caleb Williams led the league in sacks (68) last year, so getting that cleaned up would be huge for helping Williams – and the Bears offense –to stay on track.

Ben Johnson talked about going ‘back to the basics’ with Williams in terms of his fundamentals, including his footwork. He also made a point of the fact that Williams has been a shotgun QB most of his career while reiterating his desire to get him under center to open up play action.

Speaking of play action… remember how Jared Goff’s numbers improved dramatically from 2021 to 2022 with the switch to Ben Johnson? Jared Goff attempted the fewest play action pass attempts of his career (79) in 2021 – his last year before Ben Johnson took the controls. He finished as the fantasy QB24 that season. From 2022-2024, though, Goff never dropped below 150 pass attempts – and he’s been a fantasy QB1 all of those years.

Guess how many play action pass attempts Caleb Williams attempted in his rookie year? Just 85 - that ranked 16th among all QBs. You can bet Ben Johnson is going to get that number up… and behind a vastly improved O-line and with new talent on the way in the backfield via the draft, it looks like Johnson is looking to recreate what he had in Detroit for Williams in Chicago.

Oh, and Jared Goff is also a former No. 1 overall pick, just like Williams. Goff was a top-10 fantasy QB in all three years with Johnson at the helm, and that was after being unstartable in his lone year without Johnson in Detroit (finished as the QB24 in 2021). For as bad as Williams’ first season was in real life, he still managed to finish as the overall fantasy QB16. Everything has improved around him, and Ben Johnson is set to boost Caleb Williams in a huge way in 2025.