Why Caleb Williams, Drake Maye, Jayden Daniels missed the mark opting out of throwing at NFL Combine

Ahead of the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine, there’s a bevy of top quarterbacks opting not to throw in Indianapolis once again.

During the latest episode of Andy Staples On3 with Andy Staples, J.D. PicKell joined the show to discuss the decision from quarterbacks like Caleb Williams, Drake Maye and Jayden Daniels to not throw at the Combine, and it’s evident he’s not a fan.

“It sounds like the big three, Caleb Williams, Drake Maye and Jayden Daniels, will not be throwing,” prefaced Staples. “Last year, I watched CJ Stroud and Anthony Richardson throw, like back to back, they were the same group, and they threw back to back. I’m thinking, ‘What a blessing CJ Stroud provided for himself, to prove I’m one of the best quarterbacks in this draft.’

“Anthony Richardson made himself a ton of money with that throwing session. I’m looking at this with Caleb and Drake and Jayden, like why not? Why not go do that?”

PicKell agrees with Staples’ sentiment, explaining that a couple of missed throws aren’t going to hurt the big three as much as it seems like they think it would.

“That’s what I’m saying. Are we really going to change our opinion, after seeing the entirety of your college career, because you missed some throws in shorts and t-shirts, throwing to new receivers. Like, my thing is we’re all dealing with the same variables here,” PicKell added. “These aren’t your receivers, it’s not the script. Everyone has the same set of circumstances here, which is pretty similar to how actual NFL games go. There’s no perfect circumstances. The weather is bad. Maybe someone’s dinged up. Maybe you’re dinged up. So just being able to say, ‘You know what, forget all that, let’s go out there and sling it with some dudes.’ I would much rather my quarterback be able to go out there and throw it in the Combine.

“I know there’s agents involved, and there’s a lot of other external factors that may not be totally a Caleb Williams, Drake Maye or Jayden Daniels decision, but I’m more in the camp of, there’s a ball. You have a chance to go show what you can do for some scouts. Go sling it. This is awesome. Go throw it around and throw caution to the wind and have some fun.”

Even though it would be awesome, it doesn’t seem as if Williams, Maye or Daniels will be throwing, so it’ll be up to the rest of the quarterback draft class to make some money for themselves in Indianapolis.