Todd McShay: Why Caleb Williams projects as the top pick in 2024 NFL Draft

ESPN’s Todd McShay is making the case for USC’s Caleb Williams to be the top overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.

Many are in agreement, as McShay mocked Williams No. 1 to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who he as trading up for the quarterback with the Arizona Cardinals in his 2024 NFL Mock Draft. McShay explained his thought process, believing Williams is more than worth the hype.

“The Bucs are going into the 2023 season with Baker Mayfield and Kyle Trask under center, but I don’t think either is the long-term plan — especially since Mayfield is on a cheap, one-year deal,” wrote McShay. “Mayfield was last in QBR in 2022 (24.6), and Trask, a second-rounder in 2021, has thrown nine passes in the NFL.

“Williams is coming off a Heisman season, throwing for 4,537 yards in 2022. He has a good arm and excels at creating when things break down. He’s an exceptional QB prospect and would be worth the move up from No. 5 to get him.”

Alas, McShay has been consistent in his praise of Williams throughout the last couple of months. During the 2023 NFL Draft, McShay theorized Williams will follow in the footsteps of this season’s first overall pick, Bryce Young.

“Bryce Young was the 2022 Heisman winner and now the 2023 No. 1 overall draft pick. Caleb Williams will follow a similar route. He is the 2023 Heisman winner and will be the 2024 No. 1 overall pick. Right now, he’s the odds-on favorite,” McShay said, during the NFL Draft coverage. “He looks like Patrick Mahomes playing the college game, the way he has the magic, the ability to extend, the mobility that he has while also working inside the pocket.”

Continuing, a huge spotlight will be on Williams and his USC Trojans this fall, though it’s one he certainly earned after throwing for 4,537 yards and 42 touchdowns, while also rushing for 382 yards and another 10 scores. Those stats earned him his aforementioned Heisman Trophy — which generally means you’re the best player in college football.

McShay is so high on Williams that he has gone on record as saying that if the USC QB was eligible for this year’s draft, he would have been selected over Bryce Young, CJ Stroud and Anthony Richardson. That’s saying a lot, given that three different teams expect their first-round picks this season to be their franchise QB of the future. From that perspective, the team that drafts Williams will be getting a future multi-time All-Pro.

Williams has done everything at the college level except win a Pac-12 title and a national championship. 2023 is his final season to accomplish both tasks. In theory, Williams has a decade-plus in opportunities to win a title at the professional level if his pro career pans out the way experts project.

On3’s Barkley Truax contributed to this article.