Caleb Williams Finds Comfort in His Mother’s Arms

It was the most bizarre thing I’ve seen in football in over 40 years, USC quarterback (QB) Caleb Williams leaped into his mother’s arms, got into a fetal position, and balled like a baby at the end of the Washington Huskies game.

Outside of that, it was his second-best outing of the season going 27-of-35 for 312 yards with three passing touchdowns, one rushing touchdown, zero interceptions, and zero PBUs (pass breakups).

CLICK TO WATCH USC QB CALEB WILLIAMS VS. WASHINGTON

Williams did fumble once in the 2nd quarter when the game was tied 28-28 when he got strip-sacked, but otherwise, he was on point.

I’ll say this about him ⎯he has an elite ability to create and extend. He has elite athleticism. It’s not “generational,” nor is his overall game, but this USC QB can put on a show.

I just have to wonder out loud if this incident is what any NFL team wants as “The face of their franchise?”

He said what?

It’s not only what Williams said in the post-game press conference that was “interesting,” but also I paid attention to his body language (and will continue to as I break down the remaining games in his 2023 season). I admire his honesty as it gives us insight into how he emotionally processes losing a big game (I wish more players were this honest).

Now for his response.

Williams is asked by a reporter in the video footage below, “Caleb, obviously emotional after tonight, I mean you leave everything out there, what’s kind of your emotional state mentality right now trying to process this and how the season’s going?”

“I want to go home and cuddle my dog and watch some shows,” responded Williams. “We lost the game, it’s something to work hard for months, years, to big games like this, try to go win and play your best, each and every one of us, we came out with the loss today, so emotionally I want to go home and I want to lay with my dog.”

Glorified ‘system QB’?

On 35 passing attempts, 21 of those were short-range, which has been a trend this season. With Williams’ tendency to hold the ball too long in the pocket (six times in this game), USC head coach Lincoln Riley has game planned to help him from getting in his own way as much as possible this season.

In 2023:

-San Jose State (60% of Williams passes were short-range with a 72% completion percentage).

-Nevada (61% of Williams passes were short-range with a 75% completion percentage).

-Stanford (62% of Williams passes were short-range with a 90.5% completion percentage.)

-ASU (32% of Williams passes were short-range with a 64.5% completion percentage).

-Colorado (60% of Williams passes were short-range with a 75% completion percentage).

-Arizona (28% of Williams passes were short-range with a 56% completion percentage).

-Notre Dame (35% of Williams passes were short-range 62.2% completion percentage)

-Utah (44% of Williams passes were short-range with a 70.6% completion percentage)

–CAL (30% of Williams passes were short-range with 57.5% completion percentage)

-Washington (60% of Williams passes were short-range with 77.1% completion percentage)

Throwing further downfield

Williams was inconsistent throwing into the intermediate-to-deep route levels in this game.

In the losing effort, he was two out of five on deep attempts and added a couple of other beautiful intermediate completions on scrambles when he was able to create and extend.

His downfield ball placement continues to be inconsistent and is far from elite or generational.

Scouting summary

No question, Williams can make highlight reel plays as he showed against the Huskies. It’s the plays in between the highlights that give me pause. I am deeply concerned about Williams’ maturity level. I understand players cry when they lose a big game. I’ve just never seen it to this extent.

There’s more to being a franchise NFL QB than just having the occasional ability to manipulate and exploit college-level defenses. It’s also about being able to lead men. It’s about communicating hope and strength in the face of adversity. That’s not what we saw in this 52-42 loss.

Not only did Williams get defeated by Washington, but he looked and acted defeated too and that’s extremely concerning at this point of the season when Williams still had two more games left on the schedule.

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.