by Kyle Golik
Over the summer, I debated my colleague Scott Salomon about Caleb Williams’ chances of repeating as a Heisman Trophy winner.
Williams’ midseason lull the past two weeks is equally good as it is bad. The good is that he is completing over 66% of his passes. The bad of the last two weeks is throwing only a single touchdown, throwing three interceptions, and being sacked nine times, averaging only 227 yards per game.
During this lull, Mike Farrell has been picking up on Caleb Williams’ body language following the Notre Dame defeat and recently calling Williams arrogant.
It seems I am taking strays from my colleagues with Williams’ poor performances, but I still feel he is the best quarterback in the nation. For one, he doesn’t have a strong supporting cast like he enjoyed last season. As someone who tries to be fair and balanced in everything I write, I feel it is only fair to examine what if he isn’t a “generational talent.”
I tend to agree with a lot of my colleagues that many analysts throw those words around way too much. I feel Williams is the best in the country, but not a generational talent.
I felt the same about Trevor Lawrence, who still hasn’t lit up the NFL the way Patrick Mahomes has, someone I feel we all can give a consensus on as a legitimate generational talent who came to the league with little fanfare from Texas Tech. Lawrence is still very good but hasn’t lived up to that, and we have to spare him the Urban Meyer failed experience, as well as laud Doug Pederson for salvaging Lawrence and turning him into a Pro Bowl talent.
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To me, the last true generational talent to come from college to the NFL that was correctly labeled as such was Peyton Manning. Lawrence may, in due time, prove to live up to that hype if he can replicate the 2022 postseason drive he went on.
Returning back to Caleb Williams, during the FOX broadcast of Utah vs. Southern California, an infographic showed the disparity between Williams’ performances against Top 25 defenses and those who are near the bottom, and it is quite alarming.
One of the major bullet points I hit in two articles I wrote about Lincoln Riley was their difficulties against elite defenses and when the opposing offenses are at the same level as the Trojans. What is hurting Riley in that regard is Caleb Williams’ poor play. When Williams can only complete just over 50% of his passes, that hurts the Trojans’ chance to win, and quite frankly, it hurts Williams.
As it pertains to the draft, Williams is going to leverage NIL to help position himself in an ideal NFL situation. Whether it is this year or next year, his gamble may pay off, but it might not. If it does not, he is going to a situation where he is going to take lumps and be seen as a foundational piece for a franchise.
The comparison I have with Caleb Williams’ tone is the same one I saw, to an extent, with former South Carolina DE Jadeveon Clowney. But there was also one key difference – Clowney dealt with a series of minor injuries that plagued him throughout his final season in 2013.
I came up with the comparison at the end of the Utah/Southern California tilt as the FOX cameras kept going to show the reaction of Caleb Williams on the bench. Williams had the posture of a warrior who had done everything he could. He all-in-all scored on a rushing touchdown after an electric Zachariah Branch punt return that gave the Trojans the lead.
Both Clowney and Williams knew they were NFL-ready, and both were back in college for a litany of reasons. But when both players’ goals and ambitions evaporated into thin air, some in their control and some not, you see a realization in them that there is nothing left to accomplish for them.
While Williams has a chance to play spoiler, compete for a Pac-12 Championship, and maybe still pull the unthinkable of being a repeat Heisman winner, I honestly feel Williams’ main goal for 2023 was to get to the College Football Playoff, something he alluded to back in the summer. “I’m very determined,” Williams, the reigning Heisman Trophy winner, told ESPN at the Pac-12 media day. “I haven’t been in the College Football Playoff in my two years of playing. … It’s been tough. It bothers me because I play for championships. I don’t play for anything else. So, not being able to have the chance and being so close frustrates me. This year, it’s going to be a good one.”
Maybe I needed to be more cognizant of Williams’ approach to frustrating situations. That is where he will be heading if he decides to go to the NFL Draft.
What Williams needs to do is continue to play at the highest of levels to display to a potential NFL franchise that, even through the down and frustrating times at Southern Cal. He needs to remain the beacon of light on the team and show that he can reverse the fortune of that squad in the eyes of adversity.
If he cannot be that leader that future NFL franchises can bank on, that could set a franchise back years. And that’s certainly not someone worthy of being called a “generational” talent.
