Caleb Williams Continues to Earn Patrick Mahomes Comparisons
The offseason hype surrounding USC quarterback Caleb Williams continues to swirl. The past few days have added a few more soundbites. Multiple ESPN personalities who cover the NFL or the NFL Draft have joined the chorus of voices heaping what might be the most meaningful praise possible onto Williams’ shoulders heading into the 2023 college football season. He is the closest thing to Patrick Mahomes that exists at any level of football.
Of course, the focus for those analysts is on the 2024 NFL Draft. But they are driving expectations for Williams through the roof.
Matt Miller, NFL Draft Analyst for ESPN, said it comes down to Williams’ arm strength, escapability and ability to create on the move.
“NFL scouts are already looking at Caleb Williams at USC and saying, ‘That looks a lot like Patrick Mahomes did at Texas Tech,'” Miller said. “It also looks a lot like Patrick Mahomes does for the Kansas City Chiefs. Not only is it that elite-level arm strength, but it is the ability to escape, to create on the go, to get out of muddy pockets. He’s always keeping his eyes downfield. He’s never rattled.
“There’s a lot of playmaking from Caleb Williams,” Miller continued. “You’re going to want to stay up late on Saturdays to watch him play because he is truly special.”
Williams and Drake Maye of North Carolina are the top two quarterbacks right now when it comes to the 2024 NFL Draft. Miller said Maye “looks like the next Justin Herbert — a really good quarterback.”
“But Caleb Williams is something truly special,” Miller said.
More Mahomes Comps
ESPN’s Mina Kimes hates when people throw out Mahomes as a comparison point. The two-time NFL MVP and two-time Super Bowl champion is simply too good to have a comparison. So who is the comparison for Williams according to Kimes?
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Mahomes, of course.
“Normally, when I hear people comping anyone to Patrick Mahomes, I immediately walk away or throw something at the TV, but it’s the correct comp for him,” Kimes said on a recent episode of NFL Live. “The off-platform throwing ability, the creativity, the twitchiness, inside the pocket the escapability, outside the pocket the magic. It is Mahomsian.”
Kimes did add that Williams has “a long way” to fully realize what Mahomes has done at the NFL level and mentioned the “consistency questions” Williams will face this season and potentially during the draft process.
“But he is a very, very special prospect and we are going to talk about him a lot,” Kimes said.
Both of these comments come after Joel Klatt last month set the bar even higher during an appearance with Colin Cowherd.
“Well, here’s the deal,” Klatt said. “Caleb Williams doesn’t have those same question marks that Mahomes did (in college)…Because the offense is more NFL in terms of what Lincoln Riley does. His production is off the charts. His ability to scramble and throw the ball down the field to create, to do all of those things athletically, have the arm angle and the touch and the power with his arm that only Mahomes had in college.
“Like this guy has it all,” Klatt said. “He’s the best college quarterback I’ve seen in a long time. Maybe ever. You talked about hyperbole before, maybe ever because he is Mahomes, but a better version at this point.”
