USC football head coach Lincoln Riley, on site at the 2024 NFL draft in Detroit, told Rich Eisen what Caleb Williams has in common with his previous No. 1 draft picks, quarterbacks Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray.
We noted how much of an imprint Riley has made on the NFL draft:
“Here’s a fun fact for you: USC and Oklahoma are the only two college football programs to produce back-to-back No. 1 NFL draft picks. Phrased differently: USC and Lincoln Riley have produced the only pairs of No. 1 NFL draft picks in the history of football. USC’s back-to-back No. 1 picks were produced in the late 1960s. Half a century later, Riley produced back-to-back top picks. It’s quite a story.”
Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray are the back-to-back No. 1 picks Riley coached at Oklahoma. USC and Riley truly do stand alone in the history of football in that regard. We will now see if Caleb Williams can rise to a level of stature and achievement which is higher than what Mayfield and Murray — two good but not great NFL quarterbacks — have done.
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