Caleb Williams 57.5% vs. Golden Bears No. 128 Pass Defense

The positive thing that stood out to me about USC quarterback (QB) Caleb Williams was how he looked at throwing the ball into the intermediate route level of the field.

I liked that.

He missed a couple of deep shots that weren’t so hot and he struggled with his accuracy when he wasn’t able to set his feet and be in control of his launch points.

The important thing was Williams and USC (No. 24) found a way to win against a team they were favored to beat by 10 points. He took an open-faced sack he didn’t see coming with 5:40 left in the 4th quarter with his team driving at midfield. Williams fumbled on the play and CAL recovered. At the time, the game was tied 43-43.

On the day, Williams went 23-of-40 for 369 yards and two touchdowns. He didn’t throw any interceptions but did have two PBUs (pass breakups). That equaled a 57.5% completion percentage against CAL. He averaged 15.7 yards per completion.

He added 11 carries on the ground for eight yards and two more touchdowns.

Looked like he was in control sometimes

Williams looked comfortable in the pocket (for the most part) and I like how aggressively he attacked downfield.

In this game, he only had 12 short passes (30%) out of his 40 attempts. He looked committed to driving the ball downfield and he found a way to win (barely) without throwing a lot more short passes.

He showed elite pocket mobility moving around and made wise decisions to throw a couple away. The pressure did rattle him and knock him off rhythm and affected his accuracy at times. His ball placement was also so-so against CAL, which is another ongoing issue.

Other problems

Williams continued to show tendencies to lock in with receivers and hold the ball too long in the pocket.

I charted eight times he starred at receivers before throwing and five times he noticeably held it too long while setting up.

Completing 57.5% against a team that finished the season with the No. 128 ranked pass defense that allowed 281.4 passing yards per game (teamrankings.com) does put a damper on the W.

Didn’t protect himself that well

This is another ongoing issue.

Sometimes Williams runs out of bounds and sometimes he doesn’t. That trend continued against CAL. He took some physical contact and the more physical contact he sustained the more risk he took.

Scouting conclusion

I continue to hear all of this “generational talent,’ talk that surrounds Williams. In this game, he didn’t show it (I didn’t see it during the 2022 season either).

His pocket mobility stands out as does his ability to extend plays. Yes, he’s athletic. However, I wasn’t blown away against a CAL team that finished the season ranked No. 60.

Watching these games through NFL-colored glasses, I’m looking at things like:

-comfortability in the pocket (A-)

-release time (B-)

-going through progressions (B)

-downfield ball placement (B-)

-ball security (C-)

-deep ball accuracy (F)

-protecting his body (C-)

I’m comparing him in my mind’s eye to who I have seen play in the NFL.

Decent outing. I don’t know if I would say ‘good,’ and I wouldn’t say ‘great.’ Then I started thinking about what this effort would look like against an NFL team. No. 60 ranked college teams don’t exist in the NFL where there are 32 teams that are faster and their defenses are more complex. Williams should have dominated in this game to be in the first-round or top-10 discussion. According to all the scuttlebutt, the Bears are better off trading QB Justin Fields and drafting Williams No. 1 overall.

Are they really?

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.