Caleb Williams made a lot of mistakes in his freshman season at Oklahoma in 2021. Riley Files expert Kegan Reneau recalled the game when Caleb needed to watch from the sidelines and achieve a mental reset with the Sooners. However, that moment was brief, and it was all part of a process which was undeniably going to have its rough patches. Caleb Williams was not Oklahoma’s Day 1 starter in the 2021 season. His ascent was rapid and was going to have speed bumps.
Reneau remembered:
“Did Caleb get benched in Waco (in 2021 versus Baylor)? He did. And he rightfully did,” Reneau began. “There were three or four plays. He just missed them. You can’t do it, but you’re also expecting a 19-year-old who was not groomed to be the starter (that season, 2021). He really hadn’t gotten a ton of reps (before the season) when you think about practice as the starting quarterback. So all of that’s to be expected, you’re supposed to take the good and the bad, and you should take it this year as well. There’s gonna be some bad moments. There’s gonna be some drives where you know he’s being a little reckless.
“Whenever you have a guy like that in college football, you gotta take the bad with the good, because there’s gonna be a lot more good. I can’t speak highly enough about what I think of this guy.”
When Reneau said “this year,” he was referring to 2022, since this podcast was initially recorded in June of 2022. It turns out Caleb Williams made some of those reckless mistakes, but frankly far fewer than many feared.
Let’s see if Caleb can continue to polish his game and somehow become even better in 2023.
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