USC QB Caleb Williams named college football's top player heading into 2023

It's almost time for college football, and what a season 2023 will be. 

With the Pac-12 on the verge of collapse, realignment talks impacting every single conference, plus an impending 12-team College Football Playoff in 2024, this may be the last year of recognizable college football as we know it.

Things will look a lot different in 2024. For now, though, 2023 will come with a bit of a familiar vibe. Last year's Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams enters 2023 as ESPN's top-ranked player nationally.

Here's what ESPN had to say about USC's quarterback.

In his first year at USC and second year in college, Williams took the sport by storm. He threw for 4,537 yards, 42 touchdowns and only eight interceptions on his way to winning the Heisman Trophy. He draws Patrick Mahomes comparisons and has more or less secured the No. 1 overall draft pick for next season barring some unforeseen circumstances. What can he do for an encore?

To ESPN's point, it will be interesting to see if Williams can live up to the massive expectations he set for himself in 2022. USC is not even a top-five program in the preseason Top AP Top 25, but he is the type of dual-threat quarterback who could lead the Trojans to their first national championship win since 2004.

Speaking of national champions, Georgia tight end Brock Bowers is second in the rankings behind Williams and he's one of the key cogs in a UGA team that is looking to be the first team to win back-to-back-to-back national championships in college football history.

The rest of the top five is rounded out by Ohio State wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr., LSU linebacker Harold Perkins Jr. and North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye.