Johnny Manziel sees himself in Caleb Williams: 'He's the guy in this class'

The NFL Draft is rapidly approaching. Unlike most seasons, though, there’s not much suspense surrounding the first overall pick. The presumption is that it’s going to be Caleb Williams.

While making an appearance on Undisputed to talk about Caleb Williams, former NFL quarterback Johnny Manziel admitted that he sees a lot of himself and his own game in Williams. In particular, he sees how they both make plays off-schedule.

“Of course, the way he moves with his feet,” Johnny Manziel said. “The way he’s able to extend plays outside the pocket is uncanny. I think there’s not a doubt in my mind he’ll be the first quarterback taken off the board. I think he’ll probably get a chance to go in and really lift some team up that he goes to, probably Chicago for the most part. But he’s the guy. He’s the guy in this class.”

The problem then becomes translating that style of play from college to the NFL. That’s something Manziel struggled with and Williams will need the right situation to translate his game to.

“I think he’s gonna get somewhere that allows him to — you can’t play the same college game forever. Anybody who comes to the NFL. It doesn’t matter if it’s Lamar [Jackson] or Kyler [Murray] or any of these guys who come in who are really good on the unscripted side of things. He’s gonna have to come into a system and play within a system,” Manziel said.

“What I hope for Caleb is that he gets somewhere that unlocks all of this. Somewhere that can bring this side out in him because these are plays that you can’t teach, you can’t coach, and that are just natural to who he is as a football player.”

Caleb Williams played three seasons in college and won the 2022 Heisman Trophy. Over the course of his college career, he completed 66.9 percent of passes for 10,082 yards and 93 touchdowns. He also ran for 966 yards and 27 touchdowns.

“His arm is really good. I think you’ve seen throughout these years some of the throws that he makes. I think he almost throws it better on the run. Like some of these he’s not even touching the ball with two hands. This ability to escape pressure and still drop dimes is what makes him so good. Those are things that not every one of the top five or six guys in this class can even remotely do.”