The 2023 NFL Draft is in the books, but with evaluations of the recent quarterback class fresh in our minds, it might be fun to spend a few moments looking toward the 2024 quarterback class due to the potential star power at the top.

That turns our attention immediately to Heisman Trophy-winning USC quarterback Caleb Williams, who has received a lot of hype and comparisons to Patrick Mahomes and this year’s No. 1 pick Bryce Young. Simply put, I was overwhelmingly impressed at what I saw on tape from Williams.

Others in series: Drake Maye | Michael Penix Jr. | Bo Nix | Jordan Travis | Quinn Ewers | Joe Milton

Caleb Williams Evaluation

Games Watched

• Tulane 2022
• UCLA 2022
• Utah 2022 (Pac-12 Championship)
• Texas 2021

Who Is Caleb Williams?

Williams was the nation’s No. 1 high school quarterback recruit from Gonzaga College High School in Washington D.C. when he committed to play for Lincoln Riley at Oklahoma. He backed up Spencer Rattler to start his freshman season in 2021 but had his breakout after leading the Sooners to a 55-48 comeback victory against Texas after Rattler was benched in the second quarter.

Riley left Oklahoma to become USC’s head coach after the 2021 season. Williams followed and won the Heisman Trophy last season as a sophomore after completing 66.7 percent of his passes for 4,537 yards, 42 touchdowns and only five interceptions. He rushed for 10 more touchdowns.

Riley’s offense put him in the shotgun most of the time and consisted of drop-back passes with mixes of play-action, play-action half-roll, and full-movement passes outside the framework of the pocket. The USC passing game is creative yet simple, giving Williams a majority of one-read concepts mixed with a few progression reads, allowing him to finish his progression and kick the ball out to flare-control running backs.

His completion percentage is bolstered by numerous quick-game concepts and quick screens and bubbles. However, that should not take away from Williams’ remarkable talent.

>> READ: Is Williams Good Bet as 2024 No. 1 Pick?

What Williams Does Well

There are several reasons many experts project Williams to be the first pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. It is difficult to ascertain a quarterback’s arm talent on tape, but it is clear Williams’ arm is more than sufficient. 

His high-end passing ability was illustrated repeatedly. He made a lot of throws while avoiding and escaping the rush, on the move, or while under duress where he couldn’t drop back, plant, hitch and deliver. In all these scenarios, he showed he could place the ball anywhere he wants quickly, explosively or with touch.

Williams has a natural throwing motion and quick release, though it is not the continuous over-the-top motion of C.J. Stroud, Young or Hendon Hooker. Williams appears to be most comfortable throwing with a three-quarter release but can be accurate throwing with a typical over-the-top motion or sidearm release. He is instinctive in delivering from multiple arm angles to get the ball up-and-out quickly in any situation.

Williams draws comparisons to Mahomes and Young because of his special playmaking ability that jumps off the screen.

Williams has an uncanny playmaking ability to create explosive plays out of chaos. His resourcefulness and consistent ability to extend and create the big play are unique. In the film I watched, he made game-defining plays out of nothing time and time again.

Whether escaping tight pressure in the pocket, breaking loose from tackling attempts or running out of the pocket in either direction, Williams constantly finished plays that made him look like a magician on grass. He was not as twitchy athletically as I expected, but he has enough athleticism to be a credible rushing threat and escape artist.

Like most elite quarterbacks, Williams is courageous in the pocket, with a natural ability to step up and deliver with great vision. He continually made accurate throws without a proper base, off-platform or on the move to his right and left, at times awkwardly with both feet off the ground.

Williams consistently thrived under duress with poise, calm and explosive playmaking ability. This was despite getting only sufficient offensive line play from an injury-plagued unit, a lack of pass-protection help from running backs and/or tight ends and facing an abundance of five- and six-man pressure in front of him.

While some players with Williams’ playmaking instincts can lose their minds and become reckless, this 21-year-old almost always seemed to make the right play when things broke down. He rarely looked panicked or rattled while making so many spontaneous decisions. The ability to protect the ball is one of a quarterback’s most important jobs, and Williams is good in this facet despite his gunslinging mentality.

There seems to be a maturity in Williams’ game, which is impressive for a second-year college player. His leadership qualities are obvious on tape, based on his demeanor and communication skills, and total control of the line of scrimmage. If plays break down and there is nothing available, Williams has the presence of mind to throw the ball away and live for another down.

With natural accuracy, arm talent, Houdini-level playmaking and high-end maturity, Williams has an excellent foundation to build on.

Heisman-Trophy Winning QBs Taken No. 1 Overall

Draft	Player	School	NFL Team
1944	Angelo Bertelli	Notre Dame	Boston Yanks
1963	Terry Baker	Oregon	Rams
1971	Jim Plunkett	Stanford	Patriots
1987	Vinny Testaverde	Miami	Buccaneers
2003	Carson Palmer	USC	Bengals
2010	Sam Bradford	Oklahoma	Rams
2011	Cam Newton	Auburn	Panthers
2015	Jameis Winston	Florida St.	Buccaneers
2018	Baker Mayfield	Oklahoma	Browns
2019	Kyler Murray	Oklahoma	Cardinals
2020	Joe Burrow	LSU	Bengals
2023	Bryce Young	Alabama	Panthers

Where Williams Can Grow

There are so many positives in Williams’ play it’s easy to overlook his game’s deficiencies.

Ball Security

Williams should work on his staging of the ball and ball security this season. Often, Williams was casual in the pocket where his carriage of the ball was low and away from his body when it should have been tight to the sternum with the tip of the ball at the “V” of the neck. Consistently staging the ball higher will improve his ball security and speed up his release.

Williams was too casual and, arguably, reckless with his ball security. When he escaped the pocket, he consistently took one hand off the ball with the ball below his waist. In addition, he often left it outside the body framework, subjecting it to blindside pursuit knockouts.

This is not unusual for even veteran quarterbacks, but he must clean this up. This issue got worse when he was on the run. The No. 1 job of the quarterback is to protect the football. When Williams feels the speed of the NFL game and the elite athleticism of defensive players, he will see the importance of this fundamental. It’s easily correctable and is worked on daily at all NFL facilities.

Footwork

Another area for improvement is utilizing more disciplined footwork. Williams’ drops often lacked definition and detail. He drifts in the pocket and over-drops, which impacts timing and accuracy. His drops in the shotgun should be more disciplined and tied to route depths in the future.

Williams sometimes stood straight-legged in the pocket, causing him to lose power, accuracy and the ability to quickly escape. The tape showed Williams’ ability to take disciplined, quality drops followed by impressive flashes of timing throws, but the inconsistencies make his drop-back game a work in progress. This should be a topic of conversation in USC’s off-season meetings and practices.

Coverage Identification

Coverage recognition is difficult to comment on because I am not in Riley’s quarterback room. However, there were times when it appeared Williams was looking to the wrong side of the coverage after taking a snap. Even when he started to what appeared to be the wrong side, he continued to show his uncanny play-making ability. There is no reason he can’t make significant strides as he continues to mature as a player. 

Comparing Williams to 2023 Class

When comparing Williams to the 2023 quarterback class, the most obvious comparison is Young.

These two Heisman winners have an “it” factor stemming from unique and dynamic playmaking qualities, yet both have areas to improve mechanically. Young appeared to be mechanically further along on the 2022 tape, but Williams is much bigger at 6-foot-1, 220 pounds and might have a stronger arm. Young and Williams play at a much more frenetic pace than other quarterbacks in the 2023 class, yet both can maintain a quiet mind and calmly make decisions amid chaos.

>> READ: Trestman’s 2023 QB Rankings

Williams is not as similar to Stroud because Stroud is more polished as a conventional dropback/play-action player. Stroud has elite arm talent and is more disciplined and fundamentally sound right now.

Anthony Richardson is a bigger and much better athlete than Williams and has plenty of room to improve mechanically. However, Williams is further along in his development. Williams has started more games (21 college starts vs. 13) than Richardson and is clearly a more accurate passer. Richardson possesses immense upside, but Williams is a more accomplished college passer. 

It’s hard to put any of the top 2023 quarterbacks ahead of Williams. The tape was clear: With a full year of college remaining, Williams’ production and potential put him on equal footing with Stroud and Young and ahead of Richardson, Hooker, Dorian Thompson-Robinson, Will Levis and Jake Haener (the players I evaluated before the draft).

With a year left to develop under Riley, Williams could be head and shoulders above the 2023 class by next April. With the quality of the 2023 class still clear in our minds, I look forward to reflecting one year from now to see what transpires. 

Williams is worthy of the play style comparisons to Mahomes and Young, but there is a lot of work ahead of him in his final season.

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Marc Trestman is a former NFL, CFL and college coach. After over a decade as an offensive coordinator and quarterback coach in the NFL, he coached in four Grey Cups in the CFL, winning three over seven years with Montreal and Toronto before becoming head coach of the Chicago Bears. Follow him on Twitter at @CoachTrestman.