Mel Kiper Jr. finalizes Caleb Williams as No. 1 pick in his final mock draft

ESPN NFL Draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. is done tweaking his mock drafts, at least when it comes to quarterback Caleb Williams. He finalized his pick of Williams to the Chicago Bears with the No. 1 overall selection this week, then explained his decision on the mock draft reveal show.

“I don’t think we need to spend much time debating the direction the Bears will go here,” Kiper said. “Justin Fields is gone, and Williams is the clear best quarterback in this class. With Keenan Allen, DJ Moore and Cole Kmet as his top three targets, he’s going to have a chance to hit the ground running in a way that Bryce Young just couldn’t in Carolina last season.

“Williams is a supreme talent with top-tier arm strength, accuracy and improvisational skills in and outside the pocket.”

Williams wrapped up his career having thrown for 10,082 yards, 93 touchdowns and 14 interceptions on 66.9% passing across one season at Oklahoma and two seasons at USC. During his Heisman Trophy campaign, he had 4,537 yards with 42 passing touchdowns. He also added 382 rushing yards that season.

Caleb Williams’ X account hacked before Draft

On Wednesday night, the likely number one overall pick had his X (formerly known as Twitter) account hacked. NFL reporter Dov Kleiman was able to get a screenshot of the hacked post on Williams’s account, which advertised a deal on cryptocurrency.

The hacking of Williams’ account came shortly after the quarterback defended himself against a take from analyst Greg McElroy, who said the USC star “never faced adversity” during his college career, which started at Oklahoma.

That clip came across Williams’ social media timeline, and he responded to McElroy by laying out situations he viewed as adversity over the last three years.

“Let’s go back to school again … cause I’m bored rn,” Williams wrote. “Adversity: ‘A state or instance or continued difficulty or misfortune. Y1. Didn’t start freshman year. Y2. Popped hammy championship game 1st Q. Lost bc of my hammy. Y3. 7-5 my last year of college ball.”

Williams arrived at OU as the No. 1 overall recruit in the On300 rankings before transferring to USC, where he won the Heisman Trophy as a sophomore. Following his two seasons with the Trojans, the quarterback is now expected to be the No. 1 player off the board in the draft.

The 2024 NFL Draft will be held in Detroit, Michigan. The first round will be held on Thursday, April 25, the second and third rounds on Friday, April 26, and the fourth through seventh rounds on Saturday, April 27.

On3’s Justin Rudolph contributed to this report.