Caleb Williams could very well be the first-overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. Alongside North Carolina's Drake Maye, the USC signal caller is considered to be one the best QBs at the college level this year. After beginning his career at Oklahoma in 2021, Williams followed head coach Lincoln Riley to USC in 2022. He quickly turned into one of the best D1 passers, throwing for 4537 yards and 42 touchdowns. However, the season was marred by a blowout loss in the Pac-12 Championship and then an embarrassing and improbable loss to Tulane in the Cotton Bowl.
Short of a historic collapse, Williams should be a first-overall candidate while USC stacks as a National Championship contender. However, people are already trying to find the words to describe Williams' play and perceived collegiate dominance. Those efforts often end in some sort of comparison to Pat Mahomes, widely considered the best pro quarterback in the NFL right now. However, it's not that Williams himself especially agrees with.
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Williams Wants To Be Judged On His Own Merits
“The Patrick Mahomes thing, I’ve seen it. I don’t think anything of it. I’m my own self. I’m Caleb Williams, number 13 for the USC Trojans. I don’t think too much of it other than, it’s’ respect. Mahomes has been the best guy in the league basically since he got in the league. He’s been playing at the highest level. I just say respect. The man’s got two Super Bowls under his belt, and I’ve got not even one national championship. I just classify it as respect because I’ve been working my tail off to try and be the best," Williams told The Ringer.
Riley made similar comments when he asked about the subject at the Pac-12 Media Day. "There are some similarities. I think some of the vision and some of the creative arm angle. Also the ability to get the ball out is similar," Riley said. "Pat played a lot of football though. I have to remind people that Caleb didn't play his senior year of high school and only half the year his first year at Oklahoma. … Obviously, Pat is the best quarterback in the game and that's a flattering comparison, but Caleb's got a long way to go to get to that."
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