Caleb Williams has become a household name in just a matter of months, at least in the homes of football fans. Since the beginning of the 23/24 football season, Williams has been the consensus number 1 overall pick in April’s NFL draft for experts and fans alike. Is the hype deserved? Or, has Williams proved at the combine this week that he comes with some serious flaws?
First of all, the label of the next generational talent QB seems absurd. Generational QBs make mediocre teams good and find ways to elevate the guys around them (see Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes); Williams failed to do that at USC, as the team was not in the NCAA FBS playoffs. The team did, however, play in the Holiday Bowl and had a convincing 42-28 victory; just one problem, USC’s QB was Miller Moss as Caleb Williams opted not to play (red flag #1).
Now, let’s talk about the mental psyche of Caleb Williams. First off, the kid turned into a blubbering mess after a regular season loss and was balling while being held in the arms of his mother. It’s nice to see passion, and being upset about losing but, a QB also needs to be able to move on, figure out what went wrong and how to fix it. Seeing someone that upset about losing a regular season loss is quite concerning for how he will react if he ever loses a game that actually means something. Fast forward to the NFL combine this week, where comments made by Williams back in October resurfaced. Williams was mentioning that “everyone wants to be here in these two 12.5 shoes, I don’t worry about some kid running on the field associated with Notre Dame.” Williams was also quoted as saying “Lions don’t worry about the opinions of sheep.” Well, bad news for Caleb; Notre Dame massacred the Trojans 48-20 (Williams: 199 yds, 1 TD, 3 INT), so perhaps he should have been a little more worried (Mental Psyche: red flag #2).
Sticking with the happenings of the NFL combine, Williams decided that he was not going to allow teams to review his medical report unless he planned to meet with a team. No big deal, right? Wrong. It is believed that Williams is the first player to ever refuse to release his medical report to all 32 teams during the combine. Not only is it a bad look (optics are everything today) but, it also paints the picture that he is trying to hide something. On top of that, Williams opted not to participate in on-field throwing drills while at the combine. Yes, other players opted not to as well, however, those players aren’t looked at or labeled as the next generational talent QB, nor do they have so many red flags popping up around them. If nothing else, Williams is showing that he is going to be a very large ego in the NFL and is not afraid to be difficult (red flag #3).
Finally, it has been said that Williams absolutely does not want to be drafted by the Chicago Bears (some say it’s true, some say it’s false). Whether true or not, it is now out there and the perception (there’s those optics again) is if Da Bears do draft Williams, he is going to make their collective lives a living hell. Son, you are not Eli Manning, and even Eli Manning got eviscerated by fans and the media for the stunt he pulled when drafted by the Chargers. My last topic and the original red flag that popped up about this kid, is his desire to have ownership stake in the team that drafts him. Well, unfortunately for Caleb and his dad (who supposedly brought up ownership stake again recently), the NFL has rules about active players having any share of ownership of a team. Having the topic surface twice, even after being made aware of the ownership rules shows that you are either very dense, just do not listen, or feel that rules do not apply to you (red flag #4).
The best thing Caleb Williams can do right now…… just shut up. Stop talking and inserting your foot into your mouth. Stop making yourself look like this over confident, downright arrogant kid. You have proved nothing in football so far; Unable to elevate your team, a mediocre performance immediately after insulting the opponent, and quitting on your team by opting out of a Bowl game where your backup ended up playing better anyways! Remove your head from your backside, open your eyes, and secure the future that you envision, because right now all you are doing is giving teams a reason to NOT draft you.
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