Insider notes on Caleb Williams: What to expect from USC star as No.1 NFL pick awaits Heisman Trophy winner

More than a month since last taking the field for the USC Trojans, quarterback Caleb Williams finally announced what the world expected - he’s entering the 2024 NFL Draft. Long anointed as the first pick of the event, expect a lot of debate and opinions on what to expect from Williams on Sundays in the fall. Here’s my take.

While many remember Williams as the 2022 Heisman Trophy winner from USC, he jumped on the scouting radar long before heading to the west coast. As a true freshman at Oklahoma in 2021, Williams moved into the starting lineup for the Sooners after then-OU coach Lincoln Riley did the unthinkable and benched Spencer Rattler.

Williams responded with a tremendous season, completing 64.5% of his throws and tossing 21 TDs to just four INTs. He was named a freshman All-American, and, most importantly for Sooners fans, came off the bench to erase an 18-point deficit and beat the Texas Longhorns to win the Red River Rivalry.

It was shocking when, just a few months later, Williams announced that he would follow coach Riley out west and announced his transfer to USC in one of the first bigtime NIL transfers in college football. Sources at last year’s combine told me that Williams’ NIL package in 2022 was close to $20 million.

He had a sensational sophomore season for the Trojans on his way to winning the Heisman Trophy before struggling at times in 2023, in large part due to the immense talent that left USC for the NFL last April.

Williams will likely be the first pick of April’s draft, either by the Chicago Bears or a team that trades up to select him. Moving towards April, Williams is graded higher than any quarterback chosen during the 2023 NFL Draft. So what can teams expect?

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Caleb Williams' football IQ and intagibles set USC star apart

First and foremost, Williams has a great football brain. His field vision, pocket presence and sense for what’s happening when the ball is in his hands is unparalleled.

Williams makes great decisions and does an outstanding job protecting the football. He has attempted 1,099 passes the last three seasons and connected on 92 TDs to just 14 interceptions. That equates to one interception every 78.5 pass attempts, an outstanding ratio.

Williams can play from the pocket while making off-platform throws with ease or improvise when plays break down. His leadership abilities are incredible, as he's the type of signal caller who has teammates running through fire at his beckoning.

The junior also has a next-level arm and ability to accurately deliver all the throws. He’s a dynamic personality, on and off the field. Besides being a great leader between the sidelines, Williams also takes that dimension into the locker room and off the field.

Williams was chided and even ridiculed last October after his representatives made it known the quarterback would look for partial ownership of any team that selected him in the draft.

While that would never happen for a variety of legal reasons, NFL decision makers were not turned off by this demand. Those I spoke with said that it showed that Williams wanted a skin in the game, and it proved to them it was not just about the money.

Rather, having a stake in the team that drafted him ensured Williams’ future capital worth depended largely on his success as a quarterback. Yet it’s not all roses when scouting Williams.

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Caleb Williams' potential roadblocks go beyond his size and build

First, he’s small; not Bryce Young small, but Williams is expected to measure just over six feet tall and has a thin frame. Then, there’s the issue of his poor throwing mechanics.

Williams is an arm thrower who doesn’t always properly set his feet or deliver the ball with proper footwork. That's a problem for a lot of coaches and next-level decision makers.

It was a problem for Bryce Young this season. While footwork and mechanics are coachable, sometimes it doesn’t work out for the best; just ask EJ Manuel. Then, of course, there’s the lack of success from highly rated USC quarterbacks selected early in the draft; ask the New York Jets.

There will be a lot of debate about Caleb Williams between now and draft day. At some point in the process, you can expect to hear that a few teams have North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye graded higher than Williams, just as there were reports some teams graded Zach Wilson higher than Trevor Lawrence back in 2021.

I would expect glowing reports on his interview process at the combine and a good passing workout in Indianapolis, assuming he participates in the workout. The clincher for many will be the throwing fundamentals, as many of the passes Williams magically completed on Saturdays in recent years won’t be as easy come Sundays this fall.