Is QB Caleb Williams in the god tier of prospects?

[THE DUKE]

If Williams is in a draft with the 2020 guys, i'm ranking it (as they were viewed as prospects at the time, not with hindsight where Hurts would be higher):

Burrow
Herbert
Williams
Tua
Hurts
Love

[tyler735]

I'd easily have Williams over Herbert in the 2020 draft. 

[NYRaider]

51 minutes ago, THE DUKE said:

If Williams is in a draft with the 2020 guys, i'm ranking it (as they were viewed as prospects at the time, not with hindsight where Hurts would be higher):

Burrow
Herbert
Williams
Tua
Hurts
Love

Herbert wasn't even considered a better prospect than Tua at the time of the draft. He had a bunch of red flags and question marks coming out of Oregon.

[THE DUKE]

10 minutes ago, NYRaider said:

Herbert wasn't even considered a better prospect than Tua at the time of the draft. He had a bunch of red flags and question marks coming out of Oregon.

I had Herbert over Tua back then, mostly because I thought Tua was an injury risk.  Tell me I have a 100% guarantee of Tua being healthy, i'm taking him over Williams as well.

[Daniel]

11 minutes ago, tyler735 said:

I'd easily have Williams over Herbert in the 2020 draft. 

 

8 minutes ago, NYRaider said:

Herbert wasn't even considered a better prospect than Tua at the time of the draft. He had a bunch of red flags and question marks coming out of Oregon.

Herbert was pretty divisive iirc. A lot of people did think he was an elite prospect, and a lot of people, myself included, didn’t see it.

I had him below Tua, and I’d have Williams over either one, but below Burrow for now. He has a great season in 23, then he can definitely get ahead of Burrow. But he has to have an absolutely stellar season in 23 to get to the Luck/Lawrence level.

[NYRaider]

3 minutes ago, THE DUKE said:

I had Herbert over Tua back then, mostly because I thought Tua was an injury risk.  Tell me I have a 100% guarantee of Tua being healthy, i'm taking him over Williams as well.

That's crazy to me personally, I'd take Williams over Lawrence and not think twice about it.

[THE DUKE]

1 minute ago, NYRaider said:

That's crazy to me personally, I'd take Williams over Lawrence and not think twice about it.

I'm not as high on Williams as some.  Same thing with Bryce Young this year.  Very good prospect, not sold on him being generational.  I'd have Williams over any QB in this draft.

[NYRaider]

1 hour ago, THE DUKE said:

I'm not as high on Williams as some.  Same thing with Bryce Young this year.  Very good prospect, not sold on him being generational.  I'd have Williams over any QB in this draft.

Caleb has all of the mental things that make Bryce special but with a significantly stronger arm and he's bigger.

[brownie man]

1 hour ago, NYRaider said:

That's crazy to me personally, I'd take Williams over Lawrence and not think twice about it.

Same 

and homie keeps bringing up the national championship like Burrow didn’t hand him his lunch when they played in the Natty. Lawrence didn’t look remotely close to the same level of player Burrow did in that game. 
 

The physical stuff only goes so far. Caleb is the more talented passer and while it’s not light years better I think there’s a clear difference in ability. 

[Dr A W Niloc]

      What distinguishes the 2022 crop of QBs is that three of the top four come from elite college teams with difficult opponents.  No rabbit punchers here!

Rank 2022 PFF  Buzz 40Yd  2023 Quarterbacks    College    Pstn 2022  Tall Lbs
     Team                                                      Sced 
 1st  3rd 1st  94.1 4.52  Bryce Young          Alabama     QB2  +1   6'0" 194
 2nd 41st 3rd  91.0 4.72  Will Levis           Kentucky    QB3  +9   6'3" 232
 3rd  2nd 5th  90.9 4.74  C.J. Stroud          Ohio St     QB1  -1   6'3" 215
 4th  4th  89  88.1 4.77  Hendon Hooker        Tenn        QB5 Even  6'4" 218
 5th 80th  28  86.9 4.68  Tanner McKee         Stanford    QB6 +33   6'6" 228
 6th 31st  11  86.5 4.48  Anthony Richardson   Florida     QB4 +17   6'4" 232
 7th 63rd 224  83.4 4.54  Jaren Hall           BYU         QB7  -2   6'2" 215
 8th 57th 140  81.1 4.82  Jake Haener          FresnoSt    QB8 -20   6'0" 195

      In 2024 we will see higher rated QBs coming from teams outside the top six scheduled against lesser opponents in 2022, at least.  No third choice has emerged yet.

Rank 2022 PFF  Buzz 40Yd  2024 Quarterbacks    College    Pstn 2022  Tall Lbs
     Team                                                      Sced
 1st 14th      95.0 4.56  Caleb Wilson         USC         QB1  -17  6'1" 215
 2nd 39th      93.7 4.55  Drake Maye           S Crla      QB2  -11  6'4" 220
 3rd ----      88.1 4.65  Shedeur Sanders      Jaxon St    QB3 ----  6'2" 215
 4th  9th      87.4 4.50  Jayden Daniels       LSU         QB4   +4  6'3  200
 5th  7th      87.1 4.70 :Quinn Ewers          Texas       QB5   -1  6'2" 206
 6th 27th      86.4 4.65  Michael Pratt        Tulane      QB6  -24  6'2" 210
 7th 39th      84.9 4.78  Spencer Rattler      S Crla      QB7  -11  6'1" 215
 8th 53rd      83.3 4.87  Cameron Ward         Wash St     QB8   +5  6'2" 220

       In both cases the consensus leans toward "Modern" QBs--good short and intermediate, adequate or better at everything else--as opposed to specialists such as RB Anthony Richardson or quick releaser Will Levis (excellent long and very short).

[NYRaider]

2 hours ago, brownie man said:

Same 

and homie keeps bringing up the national championship like Burrow didn’t hand him his lunch when they played in the Natty. Lawrence didn’t look remotely close to the same level of player Burrow did in that game. 
 

The physical stuff only goes so far. Caleb is the more talented passer and while it’s not light years better I think there’s a clear difference in ability. 

Caleb's ability to play off script, extend plays, and make off platform throws is next level. He's easily the closest thing to Mahomes that we've seen.

[DirtyDez]

The divorce cap hit from Kyler will be record breaking but Caleb is worth it. 

[MWil23]

I'll preface it by saying that I think he's very close to being a lock/if not a lock for the #1 overall pick and deservedly so. However, I will say that I have some concerns about him (to varying degrees) that have him a notch below guys like Luck and Lawrence.

1. Lincoln Riley's system. No, it's not his fault, but we've seen this before with guys like Baker and Kyler. It's very QB friendly with a ton of presnap "gimme throws" and options to run or handoff based upon single high/2 safety looks. Given the struggles the other guys have had after being taken #1 overall, I'm hesitant, almost ala the "Jeff Tedford QB" stigma...which also to be fair included Aaron Rodgers after Akili Smith, Trent Dilfer, David Carr, Kyle Boller, and Joey Harrington.

2. Maturity concerns/issues. These are "minor" to be fair, but there's some cause to pause on how he has carried himself/put himself out there with the fingernail things and some other stuff...parlayed with Kyler and Baker, that's a bit of an eyebrow raiser, kind of speaking to Lincoln Riley's persona as well to be fair.

3. Can he do it/will he do it against viable to elite competition? Thus far, the PAC hasn't exactly been awesome in that regard.

4. How big is he? 6'1 isn't a dealbreaker, but it's not 6'3-6'6 either like some of those "can't miss" quarterback prospects, which automatically dings him as being in the "S tier".

 

[Daniel]

This is a great thread to remember who were all the Lawrence contrarians.

[Rich7sena]

My only issue with Williams right now is his personality. I feel like he has some Kyrie Irving-ness to him. Otherwise, I have him in that same top tier group as guys like Lawrence, Luck, Burrow, etc.