Is USC QB Caleb Williams overrated, or a generational talent?

All the hype is around USC Trojans quarterback Caleb Williams. Over the last couple of months, there have been a lot of discussions regarding whether or not Caleb Williams is a generational prospect. Is he truly one of the best prospects we’ve ever seen? Let’s break down just how good Caleb Williams is as a prospect and the issues with giving prospects the “generational” label.

Or is Caleb Williams Overrated?

When Lincoln Riley left Oklahoma to join USC’s staff as their head coach. Caleb Williams joined his coach, entering the transfer portal and heading to USC as well. In his first season with the Trojans in 2022, Williams completed 66.5% of his passes and threw for 4,539 yards, 42 touchdowns, and five interceptions. He also added 624 yards and 10 touchdowns on the ground as he won the Heisman award.

Unfortunately, his production worsened a bit the next season in 2023 as he completed 68% of his passes for 3,647 yards, 30 touchdowns, and five interceptions while rushing for 356 yards and 11 touchdowns.

Caleb William’s best qualities are his physical tools and ability to create big plays outside the pocket. He has solid arm strength, but he is kind of small. He is just 6’1 and weighs 215 pounds.

Williams averaged 41.6 rushing yards per game across his entire college career, more than Josh Allen averaged during his time at Wyoming. 

While those things are impressive, you have to look at the negative too.

His pressure-to-sack rate was 23.2%, which is extremely high. In fact, this number was so poor that you have to be concerned to some degree about Williiams’ ability to translate to the next level. Prospects who take sacks while under pressure at such a high rate during their final college season rarely work out in the NFL.

Under pressure, Williams sucked grading out on PFF with a 41.6 percent in those situations. There are several people that are coming out and trying to warn people to stay away from Williams. Merril Hoge thinks Jayden Daniels is the best quarterback in the draft, and now Dan Orvlovsky has come out and said the same.

When you look at Caleb Williams film and production you would hope to see a little more. He will be in the NFL, but if he is drafted, you will have to deal with his Father as his manager. He has been making some really bad decisions for his son.