Caleb Williams just won the Heisman Trophy, and he is the favorite to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft nearly 15 months from now. That said, he is not a finished, complete product. There is still plenty to learn, plenty to understand, plenty of areas in which he can still grow and evolve before he heads to the NFL.
At The Voice of College Football, host Mark Rogers and USC analyst Tim Prangley fielded calls from viewers. One caller mentioned Caleb Williams’ tendency to hold the ball for a long time. How much of a problem is this? It’s a very interesting question because while Caleb made some great scramble plays this past season — especially the long and twisting Fran Tarkenton-like play against Notre Dame in which he swerved all over the field — there will be times when Caleb does not see the backside pass rusher.
Caleb is so good at sensing backside pressure and being able to step up in the pocket, but when he gets to the NFL, the speed of the backside rusher will be greater and more immediate than it currently is in college. Moreover, USC’s offensive line was so good for most of the season that Caleb was very rarely under siege. The game in which he was a sitting duck was the game in which he injured his hamstring against Utah (December 2 in the Pac-12 Championship Game). A fully mobile Caleb did not have many games in which he was constantly in trouble in the pocket. The Fresno State game was the rare example of that.
Enjoy Tim Prangley’s insights on Caleb Williams, here on The Voice of College Football:
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