Former Stanford coach David Shaw Discusses Caleb Williams' Place Among Recent Quarterbacks

Former Stanford head coach David Shaw saw some pretty good quarterback play during his time with the Cardinal. And there’s a guy set to suit up in cardinal and gold this fall that ranks right up there with the best Shaw has ever seen.

“There’s only one ten-out-of-ten that I’ve seen and that’s Andrew Luck,” Shaw told Daniel Jeremiah and Bucky Brooks on the Move the Sticks Podcast earlier this week.

Luck was regarded as a can’t-miss pro prospect and seemed to be that until injuries derailed his career. Shaw said former Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence was the best quarterback since Luck when he was excelling for the Tigers and went into the NFL as the first overall pick in the 2021 draft.

But Lawrence now takes a back seat to USC’s Caleb Williams in Shaw’s view.

“If he’s not a 10, he’s a 9.999999,” Shaw said.

Shaw got an up-close look at Williams in Week 2 of the 2022 season. The USC quarterback completed 20-of-27 passes for 341 yards and four touchdowns in a 41-28 win.

Shaw said he watched film of Williams at Oklahoma in order to prepare for that game. And after it, even though the Cardinal very likely wouldn’t face the Trojans again, he continued to watch Williams.

“I still went back and watched because I wanted to keep seeing this young man grow,” Shaw said. “Special. To me, it’s Andrew [No.] 1 in this generation. And Caleb Williams No. 2. And I don’t know if there’s a close No. 3.”

Comparing Williams

Shaw used a comparison that has become standard when discussing Williams. It seems unfair on the surface until you realize that there simply isn’t another one to make.

“His improvisational skills are to the level of Patrick Mahomes,” he said. “You get mesmerized watching this guy play.”

Mahomes is only a two-time NFL MVP, two-time Super Bowl champion and MVP, a two-time First-team All-Pro and a five-time Pro Bowl selection. Williams just finished his first season as a fulltime college starter.

“His accuracy, his athletic ability, his strength,” Shaw continued. “You’re going to take a guy who’s got Andrew Luck’s accuracy, but he’s got the build of the behemoth of the quarterback in Philadelphia, Jalen Hurts. He’s not going down easy…Just getting a guy clean to the quarterback means nothing.”

Shaw spent time in the NFL before heading back to college at USD and Stanford. He said he’d watch as Steelers’ quarterback Ben Roethlisberger would hold off an outside linebacker while firing touchdown passes.

“This guy’s either going to do that or he’s going to make the guy miss, or he might run for 40 yards,” Shaw said of Williams. “But you had a clean guy and it should have been a sack.”

Williams’ Best Trait

Shaw said there’s one trait that stands out above the rest.

“What I love most about him, that the great ones all have, he plays the game with a sense of calm,” Shaw said. “He knows he’s better than you. He’s going to run just fast enough that you can’t catch him while he’s looking down the field to see if anybody’s open.

“I don’t have enough praise that I can give this young man.”

The Shaw-less Stanford Cardinal will take on the Trojans on Sept. 9 in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum this season. Shaw stepped down as Stanford’s head coach almost immediately following Stanford’s final game of the season. He was replaced by Troy Taylor, who inherited a difficult situation as Stanford lost a number of players to the transfer portal again this offseason.