Paul Finebaum makes bold statement on Caleb Williams

Paul Finebaum is enamored with Oklahoma quarterback Caleb Williams. On this week’s The ESPN College Football Podcast, Finebaum made a bold statement regarding Williams.

“Has any team ever had a quarterback who was the preseason favorite to win the Heisman, only to see another quarterback on the roster win the Heisman?” questioned Finebaum. “He’s changing the dynamics of this program.”

“Suddenly you don’t say ‘why do you have Oklahoma in your top four?’ You better have Oklahoma in your top four.”

After playing in one and a half games, Finebaum believes Williams has breathed new life into the Sooners program. Additionally, Finebaum theorizes Williams has a shot to work his way into a wide-open Heisman race.

“People ask about the Heisman race, there really isn’t a Heisman race right now,” stated Finebaum. “I mean there are good candidates — Matt Corral, who’s going to need his team to keep winning. Bryce Young, he feels like maybe a finalist but he doesn’t feel like somebody who’s going to win. You can play the defensive game at Georgia .. you probably can’t go to [Bijan] Robinson anymore at Texas.

“I think it’s legitimate to talk about that. (Williams) has some big games ahead, some really big games ahead with Bedlam and a few others. So yeah, I think it’s a fair conversation.”

If Williams does in-fact make a run at the Heisman Trophy, it’ll be one of the most unprecedented runs we’ve ever seen in college football. However, it’ll be tough to keep him out of the picture if he keeps playing like he did against Texas and TCU.

Kirk Herbstreit: ‘Nobody is having Heisman moments except for Caleb Williams.’

Evidently, Paul Finebaum has the support of ESPN colleague Kirk Herbstreit when it comes to Caleb Williams. On the same podcast, Herbstreit stated he would be “shocked” if Williams isn’t at least in New York for the ceremony.

“I’m not one to jump into something and throw it against the wall to see if it sticks – I’ve never really been – but I’ve called the last two Oklahoma games,” said Herbstreit, setting up his big reveal. “And I’m gonna predict right now – I saved this for you because I was gonna say it Saturday night on our broadcast and there was never the right time – I’d be shocked if he’s not in New York at the Heisman, Caleb Williams.”

He continued: “I’ve never seen a year with the Heisman Trophy discussion – usually they ask us on SportsCenter ‘who do you like in the Heisman?’ in September – this is the only year I can remember, no one wants the Heisman. It’s wide open, nobody is having Heisman moments except for Caleb Williams against Texas and again against TCU. I’m not saying he’s gonna win it, I don’t know who is gonna win it by the way. But I think this kid is just going to continue to do things that are gonna make us go ‘oh my God, did you see that?’ and they’re gonna be scoring 50 points almost every week they play.”

In just two weeks, Caleb Williams has risen from backup quarterback to the Heisman candidate with all the hype. It’s all laid out in-front of him — Williams could be on his way to a unprecedented accomplishment.