Some quoted excerpts from Bob McGinn's annual anony-scout quotes.
“I think Caleb has the best chance to bust but also has the best chance to be freakin’ special,” one scout said. “I think he’s boom or bust. There are plays he makes that are fantastic where he scrambles and throws 50 yards downfield for a touchdown. Then you look at that play and there are simpler options that he doesn’t see or ignored.”
“Obviously, it’s very similar to how (Patrick) Mahomes played at Texas Tech,” a second scout said. “He constantly is trying to hit the grand slam against just taking the single or the double. I have a hard time believing you can’t coach that out of him. Caleb is the most natural thrower of the four. Seventy yards in the air, arched on a dime. Effortless. Throwing moving to his right from his hip 25 yards downfield on a line. My biggest concern will be his height. It does look at times he struggles to see in the pocket. That’s why he likes to move. He just does things other guys can’t do. Blend that in with being able to play on time and he’s going to be outstanding.”
“The biggest chance for bust is if Caleb Williams goes to Chicago,” a third scout said. “It’s going to be a lot tougher than people think. He’s got a lot of talent but, wow, he’s had red carpet treatment since the 9th grade. This is getting ready to be a whole different deal. It’s the Chicago media, then the comparison. If (Justin) Fields goes and does anything in Pittsburgh it won’t play well. And the pressure … he ended up in the stands (clutching his mother at the Coliseum Nov. 4 after a loss to Washington) crying like a baby. For a lot of scouts that was a disqualifier. Then you got the painted fingernails, the cars, special treatment. He knows one offense, which you can write on one piece of paper, with Lincoln Riley. Of all those OU quarterbacks he’s the most gifted but none of them have really done it in the league. And Williams’ workout (at pro day) wasn’t godawful but just mediocre.”
According to one club official, his father, Carl, told him “it’s too windy in Chicago. Why should we go to Chicago when the open-air stadium is not a place Caleb will like?” Said the official: “You talk about self-serving, vicariously live through your son b.s. He needs to get away from his old man. … I like the kid. He gets a little caught up in the LA bullshit, but once he gets with somebody strong he’ll be fine. Because Lincoln Riley’s not a strong guy, either.”
“I’m going Jayden Daniels because I can’t get the f--king Notre Dame game out of my head,” a fifth scout said. “A lot of Caleb is when he’s just running around kind of being playground. He’s also kind of making it about myself.”
One of the scouts said Williams, who posted a 23-10 record as a starter, shouldn’t be thrust into the lineup immediately. “You better have the right offensive coordinator for him and do not rush him into the NFL,” he said. “In today’s football everybody wants to rush guys. Let him sit for a while. Let him process.”
An executive with an established quarterback has followed Williams from afar. “He just comes out with these things that are kind of spoiled and demanding,” he said. “I don’t know if it’s the people around him or what it is. Whether this is the case with him or not, when you get a guy that in his mind feels like you’re fortunate he’s there, it can come off that way and rub teammates the wrong way. I don’t know if he’s got that but he can’t come in with that. People are going to have to jell with him immediately. Because if they don’t, it might be an issue from a leadership standpoint.”
