Caleb Williams

Caleb Williams Scouting Report

  • Watched: Washington State (2022), Arizona (2022), Notre Dame, Washington
  • Pros:
    • Physical tools are out of this world; he can throw it 50 yards downfield while backpedaling with a flick of the wrist.
    • Often throws with varying arm angles.
    • Comfortable throwing from awkward platforms/with awkward footwork/mechanics.
    • Slips out of so many sacks; makes pass rushers completely whiff in the pocket, likewise with LBs in the open field.
    • Capable of going through full field progressions, but does it slowly at times/has issues pre-snap that throw everything off.
    • Creates a lot of big play opportunities by buying time both in and out of the pocket.
  • Cons:
    • Accuracy in general is quite poor relative to most QBs I’ve scouted (for example, comparing him to the 2021 class…Lawrence, Fields, Wilson, etc., I have him charted as the least accurate passer from 0-10 yards and 11-20 yards and close to the least accurate on deep balls).
    • Often reads the wrong side of the field off the snap and gets stuck on reads for too long, missing lots of opportunities for big plays.
    • Inconsistent reads in the read option; often keeps it when he shouldn’t, hands it off when he shouldn’t, etc.
    • Hesitates to throw the screen passes more than the usual QB, resulting in ineligible man downfield penalties.
    • Has a habit of patting the ball when sitting in the pocket which elongates his throwing process; results in some of his throws being too late.
    • Improvises far too much; legitimately rare that he just runs the play and gets it out on schedule. Would drive coaches like Shanahan, McVay, Payton, etc. crazy.
    • Poor footwork; often caught flatfooted which slows down his timing, doesn’t step into throws, throws off the wrong foot on the run, etc.
    • A lot of passes batted down at the line of scrimmage despite all the various arm angles he throws with.
  • General:
    • Nearly every play involves playaction out of shotgun, whether it’s truly just a fake handoff or an RPO.
    • A lot of buzz re: off-field quirks that I will not personally knock him for since it’s not something that can really be confirmed without having connections at the school.
    • Will be 22 on draft night and turn 23 during the season.
  • Overall Take:
    • Pro-readiness: 3rd (out of 9)
    • Potential: 1st
    • Overall: 2nd
    • Number Grade (out of 100): 86
    • I definitely have a love-hate relationship with Caleb Williams, but ultimately I’m going to have a lower grade on him than most. I am a big believer in taking home run swings on guys with great physical tools and Caleb undeniably has that in spades. His package of arm strength, creativity, and elusiveness in the pocket is extremely rare and makes it difficult to rate him down too much. I will totally understand why Chicago (or whoever potentially trades with Chicago) will likely make Caleb the pick in the draft. Having said that, I strongly dislike his general approach to the game and while I think he has some inherent qualities that you either have a feel for or do not, he really seems to struggle with a lot of the basics. There are a lot of issues that all slow down his playing process; struggles to read the defense pre-snap, getting stuck on reads even when it’s immediately clear it’s not going to work, not having his base ready to throw the ball, patting the ball when inside the pocket, etc. The good news is there are a lot of areas for improvement here and the actual throwing motion is very quick and natural once he gets to it. But this litany of issues results in a lot of missed opportunities; simply not seeing guys coming open, being late on the throw to minimize YAC…you get the idea. Beyond that, while he’s proven capable of running plays on schedule, the majority of his snaps devolve into him improvising and trying to create rather than just making the simple throws that are given to him. At the end of the day, the positives that he brings to the table give him the opportunity to be a great QB if he develops the right way. On the other hand, Caleb is not the bust-proof prospect that people hyped him up to be the last few years in my opinion; there’s serious questions in my mind about how his playstyle will translate against NFL athletes and I wouldn’t be surprised if there are some significant growing pains. His physical tools and just a little bit of development should allow him to be an adequate starting QB, but I think to reach the elite tiers of QBs, he will need to show a lot of improvement.
  • NFL Comparisons:
    • Most Likely Comp: Kyler Murray
    • Peak Comp: Stronger-armed Russell Wilson

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