Caleb Williams Turns in Finest Performance vs. No. 93 Stanford

The score was 49-3 by halftime (game film here) as USC quarterback (QB) Caleb Williams went 19-of-21 (90%) for 281 yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions in what was the best game I’ve seen out of him which includes every game he played last season and so far, this season.

USC’s offense had Stanford back on their heels the entire first half as it looked like they were just toying with their opponent.

What’s the takeaway from an NFL scouting perspective?

That’s the tougher part pulling out the characteristics off of the film from an otherwise lopsided score and matchup.

How did Williams look vs. Stanford?

Outstanding.

He continues to show dramatic improvement on his 2023 game film opposed to 2022. Last season, I watched every snap of him in his games and my biggest criticisms were his holding the ball too long, downfield ball placement and ball security issues, and a high risk of injury due to how recklessly he ran the ball.

None of that showed up against Stanford.

Williams put on a Houdini-like clinic of fancy ball handling and an on-point quick-tempo passing game. His reaction time was outstanding. In terms of downfield ball placement, pinpoint accuracy.

He was one-for-two on deep passes and wow the deep ball to receiving legend Jerry Rice’s son, Brenden Rice looked great to me.

I’m Williams’ biggest critic and I couldn’t find much to hold against him in this one.

A lot of short passes

I didn’t say I couldn’t find anything.

I charted 13 out of 21 (62%) of his attempts were short-range. There’s an asterisk next to this only because the telecast didn’t start to the second USC drive and I had to refer to the official USC play-by-play to find out details of his first four completions that were all short-range.

It’s not an issue within itself, but it does feel like USC Head Coach Lincoln Riley is making a concerted effort to get the ball out of his hand faster this season.

Last week 11-18 passes (61%) were short-range against Nevada. In the first game against San Jose State, it was 15-25 (60%).

Running less

This has been great for me to see this season, Williams is not running much and he’s taking much better care of his body. This was also evidenced by him dumping it off on short passes instead of running himself.

Against Stanford, Williams had one run for 21 yards that resulted in a touchdown.

Last week against Nevada it was three rushes for 42 yards and taking on San Jose State, it was eight carries for a minus two yards. That’s 12 carries on the season so far, and a much better job of keeping himself out of heavy collisions.

Did Williams show improvement against Stanford?

The biggest improvement Williams showed in this game was going through his progressions and not locking in with receivers.

In the game a week ago against Nevada, Williams locked in with receivers six times. In that first game against San Jose State, it happened 10 times.

How about this game?

Two times.

In the first two games against San Jose State, Williams held the ball too long 28% of the time. Last week against Nevada that number dropped to 25%.

Against Stanford?

Two times (less than 1%).

Scouting conclusion

Scouting has never been a science, but the closest it gets is with game film evidence and looking at the numbers. So far this season, Williams has been spectacular at the college level as he has the third-highest QBR of 92.1 (espn.com) and is tied for fourth currently with a 78.6 completion percentage. A big stat is zero interceptions on the season. Right behind stat is only three sacks (further proof he is getting the ball out of his hand a lot faster this season).

I had a second-round preseason grade on Williams because of the issues on game film last season that seemingly have cleared up making me feel better about him. I love the improvements shown against this level of competition.

However, I can’t be sure of how real it is, because USC really hasn’t played anyone yet. I also wonder how much of this is Williams improving from last season or is Riley game planning with the 60+ percent short passes to keep him from being exposed more?

We’ll find out.

Daniel Kelly is a former NFL Scout with the New York Jets. He was hired on the regime which featured Bill Parcells, Bill Belichick, Scott Pioli, Mike Tannenbaum, and Dick Haley. He is currently the Editor-in-Chief for First Round Mock, contributes at Yardbarker, and has written for Sports Illustrated Lions, Jets, and 49ers, as well as a featured guest on ESPN Radio and Fox Sports Radio. For more information about him visit his website at whateverittakesbook.com. He can be followed on Twitter @firstroundmock.