Rick Spielman, the former Minnesota Vikings general manager for 16 seasons (2006-2021), evaluated Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams.
“I noticed him using eyes more to move the safety off the spot coming back to his second and third reads, which shows signs of maturity in his game. I think he is trying to evolve from that and being more patience in the pocket. What goes along with that is you’re not going to have that [same] kind of time in the NFL. He is trying to show he is a quarterback, not just a great off-schedule athlete. He is trying to hone his skills as a true quarterback. He is starting to show signs of that. I’m anxious to see when they play Washington, Oregon and Utah when he goes against some real dudes on the defensive side of the ball.”
Spielman’s top quarterbacks in recent memory: Bryce Young, CJ Stroud, Andrew Luck, Joe Burrow, Trevor Lawrence, Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes. He puts the USC gunslinger up there with all of them.
“I think my comparison to Williams would probably be Andrew Luck,” Spielman said. “He did a lot of that [throwing with different arm angles and off-platform throws in the quick passing game] coming out as the No. 1 overall quarterback out of Stanford. Caleb is probably as good of an athlete as Andrew Luck was. Caleb is probably a notch up from that, but a lot of similar off-schedule plays. Luck was able to do a lot of that when he was at Stanford.”
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"If everything checks out through the pre-draft process, he will be a franchise-changing QB."
After reviewing the film, former #NFL GM @spielman_rick pens his thoughts on the presumptive No. 1 overall pick in 2024, USC's Caleb Williams ✌️#FightOnhttps://t.co/lcWN1qIgeH
— The 33rd Team (@The33rdTeamFB) October 12, 2023
Brent Venables is coaching Oklahoma far better this year than Lincoln Riley is coaching USC. It’s up to Riley to change that reality against Utah.