Former USC Trojans quarterback Caleb Williams will be the No. 1 pick of the Chicago Bears when the 2024 NFL Draft gets going in roughly two weeks.
That’s pretty much a foregone conclusion after Chicago traded former first-round pick and starter Justin Fields to the Pittsburgh Steelers earlier in the offseason.
Williams has seemingly been destined to be the first pick in the draft after he followed Lincoln Riley from Oklahoma to USC ahead of the 2022 season. Winning the Heisman Trophy in his first season with the Trojans took that to another level.
There has not really been much criticism of Williams during the pre-draft process. It’s surprising given the narratives we’ve seen thrown around when it comes to top-end quarterback prospects in recent drafts. Just think about C.J. Stroud and the talk about his testing at the NFL Scouting Combine ahead of the Houston Texans making him the No. 2 pick last year.
Alas, we’ve now hit that part of the pre-draft process as it relates to Williams.
Former Alabama and NFL quarterback Greg McElroy just recently indicated on his “This is Football” podcast that Williams has not had to overcome adversity in his career.
“(Williams) has never experienced adversity … as far as how he was received and portrayed as the next, best guy.” McElroy on Caleb Williams. “I wonder, is there a sense of entitlement?”
That seems to be somewhat of an outlandish take. The comparison was to Patrick Mahomes’ motivation after the now-three-time Super Bowl winner fell to the 10th pick in the 2017 NFL Draft.
Related: Ranking Caleb Williams and 2024 NFL Draft quarterbacks
Caleb Williams not having any of the narratives ahead of the 2024 NFL Draft
Whether it was smart to take to social media as a way to criticize media two weeks before the biggest night of your life remains to be seen. But Williams’ response to McElroy’s criticism seemed to be spot on.
Adding the definition of adversity was a nice play from Williams. Providing three examples of adversity he went through during his college career was also a nice play.
Indeed, Williams is not wrong here. Sure, he has not suffered through serious injuries such as someone like fellow 2024 NFL Draft prospect and quarterback Michael Penix Jr. But to criticize him for that makes absolutely no sense.
- Caleb Williams college stats: 67% completion, 10,082 passing yards, 966 rushing yards, 120 total TD, 14 INT
As you can see, Williams had one of the best statistical college football careers for a quarterback in the modern history of the game. He translates to the NFL. Just because he didn’t face “adversity” as one pundit claims doesn’t change this.