The NFL draft will be here before we know it, so what better time than now to deep dive some of the top prospects in the class of 2024.
Depending on who you ask, there could be four straight quarterbacks taken to kick off the draft, leaving a slew of highly skilled positional players available for any team who is set at the game’s most important position.
In a series of articles we’ll break down some of these incoming prospects and try and evaluate what their NFL futures hold.
We kick things off with the top pick in this year’s draft – Caleb Williams.
Caleb Williams – Quarterback USC
Height: 6’1”
Weight: 214
Year: Junior:
Age: 22.4
Arm Length: 32”
Hand Size; 9 ¾”
NFL Player Comparison: Modern Aaron Rodgers trained by Patrick Mahomes
Caleb Williams is set to become the new face of the Chicago Bears when they make the 1st overall pick on April 25th. And by all accounts, they’re in line to draft a franchise changing player. Comparing anyone to Aaron Rodgers is a lofty parable, and I’m not about to guarantee that Williams will have won 3 Super Bowls by the time he’s 28 like Mahomes did. But the similarities in their playing styles are all too obvious to overlook.
Williams has just average height but has a thick, muscular build and impressive arm strength. He opted not to participate in the combine testing in Indianapolis, and frankly that makes perfect sense. There was literally zero benefit for him to participate in the underwear Olympics. What he’s put on tape in college is enough to have him locked up as the top selection of the draft.
Williams is a natural thrower and can get the ball out of his hands from unpredictable angles, whether he’s on the move or set up in the pocket. His athleticism at the quarterback positioning is also elite. He has twitchy movements to evade defenders who are closing in on him and high level speed to take advantage of defenders who give him too much space.
Williams thrives playing off beat in the offense, which truly makes him one of the most exciting quarterback prospects to watch. He’s above average at improvising when plays break down and creating plays out of structure to keep the offense moving. This, however, has some obvious drawbacks.
His new offensive coordinators need to walk a fine line between letting Williams create plays on his own while also reigning in some of his undisciplined habits. Williams displayed a tendency to avoid making the safe decision on a play in 2023. Instead of taking a simple checkdown and keeping the offense on schedule, Williams would hold onto the ball too long and try to create something special. Looking back at Mahomes’ college tape, he had many of those same issues. But en route to a Super Bowl victory this past season, those old tendencies have been seemingly resolved as Mahomes is now much more disciplined and knows when to create and when to survive and move on to the next down.
The Chiefs offense certainly wasn’t as exciting this season as it has been in years past, but Mahomes is showing a level of maturity that gives promise that the wild bronco that is Williams can also be tamed enough to reach that elite status. Watching Williams’ tape I grew less certain that his desire to create big plays on every snap was due to his reckless gunslinger mentality and more due to the USC offense, particularly their o-line, being below average. He was immediately under duress on almost every snap and was forced out of the pocket to create plays on his own as USC head coach Lincoln Riley’s offense never adapted.
On top of William’s standout improvisational skills, he also has an elite level arm. His deep balls are rockets that also seem to have that perfect touch at the point of reception. He can get the ball out in any situation – even if he’s off balance, getting tackled, or in the air with accuracy and velocity. He can torque his body while avoiding defenders at such a high level that he’s almost always in position to make an accurate throw. His field vision is another very impressive asset. He has an innate ability to get to his 3rd and 4th reads on offense when a play breaks down. There are multiple plays on tape where the initial looks are taken away and he has to throw across the field but his ability to manipulate his torso to get into position allows him to make throws that other quarterbacks would only dream of.
Finding the negatives is more nitpicking as scouts overanalyze Williams for the past two seasons. Again, he holds onto the ball for too long and throws some offenses out of rhythm. His pressure to sack rate also jumped from 2022 to 2023 – again, this is largely due to a dearth of talent in USC on the offensive line, but still something to note. He took 35 sacks in 2023, the 11th most in the FBS, so he’ll have to clean that up in the NFL. The media has been trying to run a narrative that some teams have concerns of Williams off the field – they don’t like that he paints his nails, has a pink phone case, or that he cried with his mother after USC’s tough loss to Washington. Honestly, if this is the type of crap that people need to put out to find negatives about Williams, I think you’re looking at a sure fire prospect. By all accounts he impressed in the few team interviews that he took (again, why bother wasting time will teams who have no shot to draft you), and has been planning to be the number one overall pick since he was a child.
Williams is a home run number one overall pick, and entering the NFL with the supporting cast that the Bears have assembled have set him up for immediate success.
-Devon Gallant
Twitter: @DevGallant