New York Giants Draft Profile: QB Caleb Williams

Caleb Williams, QB

Height: 6’ 1 ⅛”

Weight: 214 lbs

Class: Junior

School: Southern California

In the 2021 recruiting class, Caleb Williams was the seventh-ranked recruit in the country by composite - second-ranked quarterback and the top recruit from Washington D.C. Caleb Williams committed to the Oklahoma Sooners for his freshman year before following head coach Lincoln Riley to the USC Trojans in 2022.

Strengths

• Thrives when plays break down, using his legs to either pick up yardage or scramble until he has an option to throw to
• Keeps his eyes downfield when he gets out of the pocket
• Arm velocity that allows him to make any throw a team will ask of him
• Consistently forced to carry his team running a high-octane offense with a horrible defense
• Lightning-quick release on RPOs and screens
• Still gets velocity on his throws even when he’s off-platform
• Has the Matthew Stafford/Patrick Mahomes ability to throw from different arm slots
• Active mover in the pocket that can step and slide according to pressure
• Has the ability to make defenders miss as a runner
• Has the physical tools to be a franchise-changing QB

Weaknesses

• Outside of RPOs, struggles to run an offense built on in-structure and on-schedule throws
• Hero ball is his preferred method of play
• Slow to go through progressions - maybe one of the reasons he’s so reliant on broken plays
• Responsible for 30% of his own pressures allowed
• When he scrambles, would like to see him just pick up the available yardage instead of always looking for the big play
• While it’s improved over the years, his deep ball still lacks consistency
• Slightly undersized but not alarmingly
• Needs to take care of the ball better - 33 fumbles in college

Williams has tools that simply can’t be coached or taught. His insistence on playing hero ball, regardless of his supporting cast (Oklahoma and USC) flat-out terrifies me. He’s going to be playing against considerably better athletes in the NFL that shrink his margin for error.

There aren’t a ton of flaws with Williams’ film but the concerns that are there can be crushing for an offense. Ultimately, teaching him to calm down and play more in rhythm will elevate his play significantly but three years of doing whatever he wanted in a QB-friendly offense gave him some bad habits that may be hard to shake.

GRADE: 7.32