Lincoln Riley addresses Patrick Mahomes comparisons for Caleb Williams

When Lincoln Riley was the offensive coordinator at Oklahoma, he watched Patrick Mahomes put up monster numbers for Texas Tech. After his time in Lubbock, Mahomes went No. 10 overall in the 2017 NFL Draft to the Kansas City Chiefs – and the rest is history.

Over the last three years, though, Riley helped develop a quarterback who many think is similar to Mahomes in Caleb Williams. The 2022 Heisman Trophy winner is widely viewed as the No. 1 overall player in the 2024 NFL Draft, and the comparisons continue after Mahomes won his third Super Bowl earlier this month.

Riley sees similarities between Williams and Mahomes, although he thinks there’s still a pretty big gap between the two considering Mahomes’ accomplishments.

“Listen, there’s some physical comparisons,” Riley told J.D. PicKell on The Hard Count. “Like, no question. Both great athletes, both have really elite arms, guys that can throw from all types of different platforms, can really do anything from a throwing perspective that you can imagine. Pat has had one, a lot more experience and Caleb up to this point. I mean, Pat played a lot of ball in college, Pat didn’t miss a senior year in high school. And obviously, he went into a great situation there in Kansas City, and then he has just done a phenomenal job. Caleb certainly has some of the same physical tools, which is exciting because there’s not many people that have that.

“But certainly, to continue to climb to a guy to like his level, there’s going to be a big process there. But I certainly wouldn’t put it past him. Excited, hopefully he can end up in a great situation and take advantage of it anywhere to the level that that Pat has done.”

A closer look at the similarities between Caleb Williams and Patrick Mahomes

The comparisons between Williams and Mahomes continue to get louder with the NFL Scouting Combine approaching. Looking at the numbers, it’s hard not to see similarities during their college careers.

Williams totaled nearly 5,000 total yards — 4,537 passing and 382 rushing — and 52 total touchdowns to win the Heisman Trophy as a sophomore. Seven years earlier, Mahomes was a sophomore at Texas Tech and put up very similar numbers. He threw for 4,653 yards and 36 touchdowns while adding 465 yards and 10 touchdowns in the running game.

In fact, Williams thinks he can do the same things Mahomes can.

“Everybody watches Patrick and sees all the cool things he can do,” Williams told CBS Sports. “I always said, even in high school, that I don’t think there’s anything … obviously, it’s special, but I don’t think there’s anything that I can’t do that he’s doing out there. I think it’s really cool. Like I said, I have comparisons of a bunch of other people to have. Patrick is pretty cool.”