NFL personnel address two big Caleb Williams concerns

The Chicago Bears almost certainly will make USC Trojans quarterback Caleb Williams the first pick of the 2024 NFL Draft, but his days of being an undisputed slam-dunk selection are seemingly over. 

"My concern is his tape was not very good this year," one NFC quarterbacks coach said about Williams during a chat with NFL insider Albert Breer. "The '22 tape is very good. This year, the team is terrible, the offense is brutal. You can see the talent. He can move, but a lot of the off-schedule stuff, he’s careless with the football." 

That coach added that LSU Tigers quarterback Jayden Daniels "was far better" than Williams this past season. Meanwhile, Breer mentioned that "turnovers were, indeed, an issue last year" for Williams. 

Specifically, NBC Sports Boston's Jordan Daly noted that Williams "had 33 fumbles over the last three years of his college career, 16 of which came just last season." 

ESPN analysts Louis Riddick and Dan Orlovsky have repeatedly named Daniels "the best quarterback" in this year's draft. 

It was learned earlier this week that a handful of NFL talent evaluators ranked Williams sixth out of six quarterback prospects regarding intangibles and immeasurables.

"Finally, there’s the off-field element — Williams' interest in the business of football and his dad’s involvement in his career," Breer said. "...Carl Williams, a successful businessman in his own right, is helping his son with the off-field stuff, for sure." 

For a GQ article published this past September, Carl suggested that Caleb could return to school for another college season if they didn't like the team that held the first pick of this year's draft. There's no sign that Caleb will reject playing for the Bears, but one AFC college scouting director admitted to Breer that he does "worry about" supposed distractions impacting Caleb. 

"If he doesn’t reach full potential at the next level, it’d be unrelated to anything physically or athletically," that scouting director said Williams. 

As recently as Friday, one NFC North scout indicated that North Carolina Tar Heels quarterback Drake Maye is "not far behind" Williams regarding ranking the prospects. Despite such takes, DraftKings Sportsbook listed Williams as the overwhelming betting favorite at -20000 odds to be the draft's first pick as of Friday afternoon.