School: USC
Position: QB
Year: Junior
The Good: Caleb Williams, Heisman Trophy winner, can throw the football. He delivers the football with an absurd amount of torque behind it, and he’s not a one-trick pony, either. Williams has the full package in his arsenal; from the pocket, out of structure, multiple arm slots, with velocity or with touch – he can do it all and do it all at a high level. Williams really doesn’t miss much, and that’s especially impressive considering he routinely works his way from downfield to his checkdown option. For a gunslinger, Williams possesses strong short accuracy, and he’s a better athlete than his profile might suggest too. Williams is natural to the position and often has the franchise quarterback look; he displays patience from the pocket and yet can move the chains with his legs whenever the situation calls for it. It’s important to remember that Williams is still young too despite being very publicly on the football scene for three years now. He should only improve in certain areas with coaching and age; even from 2022 to 2023, Williams’ footwork showed positive development.
The Bad: Williams’ circus style of play at USC made for a good highlight reel, but it doesn’t reflect the best in his evaluation. It would be one thing if Williams was a Kyler Murray level of athlete, but that’s not the case. I’m not positive that Williams is NFL level of twitchy, so his scramble drills and narrow sack escapes won’t fly as much as a pro. Williams’ timing needs to improve, too. He was often able to get away with it in the Pac-12, but Williams almost never releases once he hits the back of his drop, and he’s not particularly anticipatory either. Williams will also need to get to work in cleaning up his lower half mechanics, which are too often sloppy and lead to his wobbly throws and airmails. He’s also not the most consistent thrower on the run.
The Bottom Line: It’s weird to write this about a college QB as high-profile as Caleb Williams with a head coach who probably could have jumped to the NFL at his own choosing over the last few years, but there remains a good amount of projection to his NFL Draft profile. Lincoln Riley might be a QB whisperer who produces Heisman winners and aerial offenses, but his coaching and scheming did no favors towards Williams’ pro evaluation. USC had a headset dependent offense with so much lazy quick game, and even at Williams’ college peak things were so often either 100% scripted or 100% improvisational. I wish I had more proof when it comes to Williams’ ability to diagnose coverages or adjust his eyes on the fly with what defenses are giving him. His surroundings also imploded so badly at times that it visibility rattled Williams; he does deserve some blame for questionable decision making in the face of adversity and a bad habit of quickly going into hero-ball mode when things get tough, but man…it was legitimately hard at times to watch USC tape and not feel for Williams. He might be the rare case of a first overall pick whose circumstances actually improve upon reaching the NFL. He’s a scrappy player and has the size and moxie to take literal and figurative hits early on in his career and come out on the other side all the better for it. Williams is a gifted passer with star potential within the right offense.
Grade: Top 10 Pick
Pro Comp: Matt Stafford
Games Watched:
- Utah 2022
- Cal 2022
- ND 2022
- UCLA 2022
- Utah 2022 (Pac-12 Championship)
- Tulane 2022 (Cotton Bowl)
- San Jose State 2023
- Nevada 2023
- Arizona State 2023
- Arizona 2023
- Notre Dame 2023
- Cal 2023
- Washington 2023
- Oregon 2023
Epiblogue 