‘Peak-era Aaron Rodgers’: USC football QB Caleb Williams draws major praise from NFL execs, scouts

Caleb Williams is one of the best, if not the top college quarterback today. The USC football star is having another Heisman-worthy campaign, and sure enough, he’s well poised to go no. 1 overall in the 2024 NFL Draft.

While he still has plenty of games left in his college football journey, several NFL execs and scouts couldn’t help but rave about his talent. Many deem him as pro-ready (since last year actually), and the praises just keep coming for him. From being hailed as a once-in-a-generation talent to being compared with the likes of Aaron Rodgers and other great QBs, one thing is clear: whoever drafts Williams in 2024 will have a franchise-altering gem at their hands.

“He is one of the best football players, flat out, I’ve ever scouted,” a veteran AFC scout shared, per Matt Miller of ESPN. “He’s consistently the best player on the field.”

An NFL general manager even went as far as to saying that Caleb Williams would have beaten both Joe Burrow (2020) and Trevor Lawrence (2021) as the no. 1 overall pick had he been drafted in their respective classes. That’s how good he is.

“Williams would have been drafted first overall in both 2020 [over Burrow] and 2021 [Lawrence]. That’s no knock on either player — and they’re both really good in the league — but Williams is a difference-maker. Joe and Trevor are distributors. Great ones. Caleb is a game-changer,” the anonymous GM shared.

Some scouts, meanwhile, even compared him to Aaron Rodgers, which is certainly massive praise for a guy who has yet to play a game of NFL football. Many have said before that he’s like Patrick Mahomes, though the AFC scouts interviewed by Miller had a different take.

“To me, he’s peak-era Aaron Rodgers. The way he moves in the pocket to create passing windows and then, boom, he’s thrown a no-looker across his body or a deep ball that looked impossible,” the AFC regional scout shared.

An AFC area scout added, “When everyone said Mahomes, I said young Aaron Rodgers. Just Google 2008-2012 Rodgers highlights. It’s awesome. And it looks just like Williams.”

Of course Williams deserves all the praise he’s getting. He won the 2022 Heisman Trophy, and so far this 2023 campaign, he has already tallied 1822 yards and 22 touchdowns, all while completing 119 of his 166 passes. He has also rushed for six touchdowns on 38 rushing attempts. With those numbers, Williams is on pace to exceed his performance from the previous season.

USC football is also undefeated through six games, allowing the Trojans to establish themselves as one of the favorites for the national title.

It remains to be seen where Williams will end up come the 2024 NFL Draft. But based on what execs and scouts have said about him, it’s hard not to see him going no. 1.