Caleb Williams is on course to be the top prospect in the 2024 NFL Draft, and teams have been told he is on the path to being better than Kansas City Chiefs superstar Patrick Mahomes.
Mahomes is the reigning NFL and Super Bowl MVP after picking up his second championship ring since being drafted 10th overall by the Chiefs six years ago, and Williams is a player in a similar mould with his off-the-cuff gunslinger style making the University of Southern California signal-caller among the most exciting players in college football.
Williams, 21, won the Heisman Trophy as the outstanding player in college football in 2022 and he is the consensus favourite to win the award again as the former Oklahoma QB looks to build on a strong first season with the Trojans.
Leading college football analyst Joel Klatt believes Williams is ahead of Texas Tech product Mahomes at the same stage of his development, with all the skills to make him a transcendent player like the two-time MVP at the NFL level.
"Here's the deal, Caleb Williams doesn't have the same question marks that Mahomes did because the offense is more NFL in terms of what Lincoln Riley does," Klatt told The Herd.
"His production is off the charts, his ability to scramble and throw the ball down the field, to create, to do all of those things athletically and have the arm angle and the touch and the power with his arm that only Mahomes had in college.
"This guy has it all. He's the best college quarterback I've seen in a long time, maybe ever because he is Mahomes but a better version at this point.
"Williams has the best parts of Mahomes and even Luck and Elway with that innate escapability. "The only thing that is going to get in Caleb's way is Caleb and his mentality and all the antics. That is the only thing that is going to get in his way."
Williams was sensational in his sophomore season, throwing for 4,537 yards and 42 touchdowns against just five interceptions. Although Williams would have another year of eligibility in college, he is almost certain to declare for the draft at the end of the 2023 season and he is en route to sitting atop draft boards with the number-one pick likely to be spent on him.
The Arizona Cardinals, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Tennessee Titans are among the teams tipped to struggle in the NFL in 2023 and are the early contenders to be picking at the top of the draft, which could allow them to land a transformational talent in Williams.
