Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson was the offensive coordinator for the Detroit Lions ahead of the 2024 NFL draft. At that time, the Lions did not need a quarterback, as Jared Goff had resuscitated his career after coming to Detroit. Still, Johnson evaluated a quarterback class that featured six first-round picks, led by Caleb Williams and Jayden Daniels.
Interestingly enough, Johnson left the Lions after last season to take over as head coach of the Bears, who used the No. 1 pick in the 2024 NFL draft on Williams. The Washington Commanders would select Daniels with the No. 2 overall pick and put the franchise on his back, leading them to their best season in 33 years, advancing to the NFC Championship game and winning NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year.
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The Bears will travel to Washington in Week 6 to face the Commanders on Monday Night Football. It’s the second-career meeting between the two young quarterbacks. Daniels outplayed Williams in the first meeting, which ended with one of the most memorable plays in NFL history: Daniels’ Hail Mary to Noah Brown, shocking the Bears.
In preparation for Monday’s game, Johnson was asked about Williams and Daniels, and any built-in rivalry between the two young quarterbacks due to their draft positions.
Johnson acknowledged he thought highly of Williams, which was one of the reasons why he chose to take the Chicago job. Thus far, Johnson has enjoyed working with Williams.
What did Johnson think of Daniels?
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“Jayden’s an extremely accurate thrower of the football, something that I think is overlooked when you look at him because he’s so dynamic with his legs,” Johnson said. “I think there are probably a lot of similarities. I think these are two ascending quarterbacks in this league, and we’re going to be talking about them a long time in the future.”
Johnson praised both passers as “elite” at throwing the football, even if they were asked to do different things on their college tape.
Johnson is probably right. Daniels and Williams are probably going to be around for a long time. In addition to being the No. 1 and No. 2 picks in the draft, they both took over a historic NFL franchise that hadn’t had a franchise quarterback for years. Bears fans online often get very defensive of Williams when it comes to Daniels.
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As for Johnson, he has his own history with the Commanders. There will be a lot of players and coaches wanting this one a little more than others on Monday night.
This article originally appeared on Commanders Wire: Washington Commanders: Bears coach compares Jayden Daniels to Williams