It seems that Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams loves being the face of USC Trojans football and may not be ready to give it up, even if being the top pick in the 2024 NFL Draft is on the table.
The 2023 college football season begins this weekend and there is no player that will get more attention than USC star quarterback Caleb Williams. In his second season in the sport, the Oklahoma transfer took the sport by storm as he led the Trojans to 11 wins and won the 2022 Heisman Trophy award. While they didn’t come close to winning a national title, that will certainly be the goal in 2023.
Related: College football rankings: Georgia, Texas, USC and the best college football teams in 2023
Ahead of their season opener against San Jose State on Saturday, the team is third in our latest college football rankings mostly due to the superstar talent of Williams. There is also an added urgency to maximize his third season at the collegiate level because the football world assumes he will declare for the 2024 NFL Draft at the end of the season.
Even before he chose the school he would attend, Williams’ father reportedly often asked recruiters about how they could help his son become the top overall pick in next April’s draft, since the plan all along was for the 21-year-old to take his talents to the professional level after three seasons as an amateur.
- Caleb Williams stats (2022): 4,537 passing yards, 42 TD, 5 INT, 168.5 rating
Caleb Williams open to staying at USC for his senior season
Now, with most projecting him to be the No. 1 pick next year it seems that the quarterback actually being in the event is no longer a foregone conclusion. During a chat with ESPN on Wednesday, Caleb Williams had a very surprising answer when asked about being in the 2024 NFL Draft.
“That’s for sure now going to be an in-the-moment decision at the end of the year. It’s my third year, and the dream and goal was to go three-and-out. Being around these guys and in college and enjoying it, we’ll have to see at the end of this year.
“… Being in college now, being part of this brotherhood, and being with Coach Riley, it’s been awesome. I don’t think there’d be one specific thing to effect and detour that type of decision. It’d have to be a multitude of things to lead me to one side or the other.”
– Caleb Williams
How USC does this season and what Williams’ draft projections are at the end of the year will surely have an effect on his decision, but it is surprising that he seems torn on what would be an easy decision for so many young athletes.