Profile
- College: USC (2022 – 2023), Oklahoma (2021)
- Height: 6’1”
- Weight: 215
- Age: 22
- Year: Junior
- Draft Projection: Top-two pick
High School & Personal Life
Caleb Williams was born and raised in Washington, D.C., and played for Gonzaga College High School. As early as his sophomore year, he had led Gonzaga to a district championship with a season that included 2,624 passing yards and 26 touchdowns with 394 rushing yards and ten touchdowns on the ground. He was named Washington Post All-Metropolitan First Team and his area’s Gatorade Football Player of the Year. Williams would repeat these accolades following his junior season.
The COVID-19 pandemic eventually canceled Williams’ senior season. However, he had enough on film to propel his college recruiting status. According to 247Sports, Williams was the QB2 recruit for the 2021 class in the country. He sat behind only Quinn Ewers, who would commit to Ohio State before transferring to Texas. Williams received over 20 offers from D1 programs around the country. He eventually settled on joining Lincoln Riley at the University of Oklahoma.
College Career
| Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | School | Class | G | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Y/A | AY/A | TD | Int | Rate |
| *2021 | Oklahoma | FR | 11 | 136 | 211 | 64.5 | 1912 | 9.1 | 10.2 | 21 | 4 | 169.6 |
| *2022 | USC | SO | 14 | 333 | 500 | 66.6 | 4537 | 9.1 | 10.3 | 42 | 5 | 168.5 |
| *2023 | USC | JR | 12 | 266 | 388 | 68.6 | 3633 | 9.4 | 10.3 | 30 | 5 | 170.1 |
| Career | Overall | 735 | 1099 | 66.9 | 10082 | 9.2 | 10.3 | 93 | 14 | 169.3 | ||
| Oklahoma | 136 | 211 | 64.5 | 1912 | 9.1 | 10.2 | 21 | 4 | 169.6 | |||
| USC | 599 | 888 | 67.5 | 8170 | 9.2 | 10.3 | 72 | 10 | 169.2 |
Accolades
- 2022 Heisman Trophy
- 2022 Maxwell Award
- 2022 Walter Camp Award
- 2022 AP College Football Player of the Year
- 2022 Sporting News College Football Player of the Year
- 2022 Unanimous All-American
- 2023 Best Male College Athlete ESPY Award
- 2022 Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year
- 2022 First-team All-Pac-12
- 2021 Second-team All-Big 12
Strengths
Mobility As An Extension Of The Passing Attack
Many mobile quarterbacks run into the trap of giving up on the passing game once they decide to bail from the pocket. The nice thing about Williams is that despite being deadly on the ground, he does not give up on passing, which is the primary goal of a play call. While maneuvering out of the pocket, he keeps his eyes downfield, scanning for receivers before pulling the ball down at the last second. This ability is one of the reasons we see quarterbacks like Mahomes making such great throws out of ‘broken’ plays.
Off-Platform Arm Talent
Off-platform throws are a more ‘trendy’ attribute for the modern quarterback. We all remember the highlights of Patrick Mahomes throwing while diving to avoid contact. These throws occur when the quarterback scrambles and does not have time to establish a base. It is an actual test of arm strength. A test that Caleb Williams passes with flying colors.
Arm Angles
A quarterback who can throw at multiple arm angles is much more challenging as a defense. Some quarterbacks can throw the ball ‘around’ rushing defenders. This is highly frustrating for the defense because it makes the ball almost impossible to bat. Examples of this are littered all over Williams’ tape.
Arm Strength
Being a quarterback, most of the analysis should start with arm talent. Williams has a big arm! He has the strength to make throws across all areas of the field. In this All-22 clip against Stanford, we can see the power on full display. This bomb travels from the 15-yard line on one side of the field to the 25-yard line on the other. That is a full 60 air yards!
Areas To Improve
Time To Throw
One painfully obvious thing when watching Williams is that he holds onto the ball too long. Even the untrained eye can pick this part of his game as a weakness. In his three years as a starter, he has had times to throw of 3.51, 3.24, and 3.28 seconds. This was bottom-five in the country each year amongst FBS quarterbacks, with a minimum of 120 dropbacks. This can turn into a huge problem at the next level. Other notable quarterbacks include Ian Book, Malik Willis, and Malik Cunningham. It’s not a great list to be associated with.
Play Under Pressure
As the football world acclimates more and more to advanced metrics, it is becoming clear that the pressures allowed are not simply a grade of offensive line performance. ProFootballFocus (PFF) has done a great job of collecting data that can attribute allowed pressures to certain positions on the field. In 2023, Williams was credited with 39 pressures allowed, breaking down into a pressure percentage of 30. These numbers are the worst in the country amongst FBS quarterbacks, with at least 35 dropbacks. Even in his Heisman season of 2022, Williams ranked as the third worst quarterback in the country in pressures accredited to him.
Projected Draft Capital & Landing Spots
Williams is locked into the discussion as a top-two overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. This time last year, he was a lock for the number one overall pick. However, a lackluster 2023 season has brought this into question. The conversation has now turned into Williams versus Drake Maye. As we get closer to the actual draft, I am confident that Williams will reclaim that throne of consensus number one overall pick.
Chicago could be his new home if he is the top dog in the 2024 quarterback class. The Bears still have a decision to make on Justin Fields before the NFL Draft in April. If the Bears stick with Fields, we could see a historic amount of draft capital being exchanged for the chance to draft Williams.
Dynasty Rookie Value
Williams has been the consensus top pick in Superflex rookie drafts for some time now. There are those out there who argue Marvin Harrison Jr. is worthy of that spot, and to be honest, they have a decent argument after Williams’ 2023 season. He still stands out on top of this 2024 rookie class, and I will be drafting him as such later this spring. He truly has the talent to become a top-five quarterback in the league one day, and that is hard to pass on in a format where you can start two quarterbacks. We are living a cautionary tale with Trevor Lawrence, but a swing at an elite quarterback is a swing dynasty managers must be making over and over.
The conversation is much different in single quarterback leagues, but Williams is still a first-round selection in those drafts. Obviously, the likes of Harrison, Malik Nabers, Rome Odunze, and other wide receivers selected in the first round of the 2024 NFL draft will go above him. As well as Brock Bowers and perhaps a running back or two with the appropriate draft capital. Past that, I don’t fault anyone for taking Williams with a top-ten pick in single quarterback rookie drafts.
It’s mock draft season! Want exclusive access to rookie rankings and the film room? Subscribe to the #NerdHerd, where you get exclusive content, dynasty/rookie rankings, and DynastyGM! If you want 15% off ANY SUBSCRIPTION, USE PROMO CODE “LUNA” or CLICK HERE.
I hope you enjoyed this piece in our Rookie Profile series. Be sure to check back often. For more content like this, follow me on Twitter @DanT_NFL. DMs are always open for questions, comments, or craft beer recommendations!
