Since beginning his preparations for the draft, Caleb Williams has been compared to several prominent NFL quarterbacks. The two most common were Patrick Mahomes and Aaron Rodgers. Others were Kyler Murray and Russell Wilson, likely alluding to his shorter height and mobility. One name that might surprise a lot of people is Drew Brees. When watching the two on tape, you wouldn’t immediately see the similarities. Brees wasn’t exactly known for his improvisational skills or making plays with his legs.
That isn’t where the connection is made. It’s the way they think. Former tight end Clay Harbor described Brees as meticulous. He wanted everything done a certain way, not just in games but also in practice and even off-season workout sessions. He’d organize everything from the flight schedules to meal plans and how each throwing session would go. Every detail was accounted for. USC passing game coordinator Dennis Simmons found out immediately that Williams was cut from the same cloth. He told Colleen Kane of the Chicago Tribune when it first clicked.
It was really early on in the recruiting process. COVID had hit, and we weren’t able to do business and all of the things of that nature. He and his family were organizing visits for other players around the country that we had as prospects to try to finish out the class. So you knew he had some sort of leadership role and organizational skills.
And then he would go out with the skill guys and do private throwing sessions with those guys on his own, where he organized and did all of that stuff. Just the feedback from some of those kids was, “This guy is not just a good quarterback. This is a generational-type, different guy.” When you’re recruiting players, obviously talented guys want to link up with other talented players. Just to hear those compliments and those words used about him by his peers, you knew you had something good.
Think about that. He wasn’t even officially a teammate with those other players yet. That didn’t stop him from doing what he must to prepare for the upcoming season. Keep in mind this was despite the knowledge he probably wouldn’t start that year. He was under no obligation to do any of that but did it anyway. That is what he felt must be done to help himself and the program succeed. You can’t argue the results. Williams stepped in midway through that first season and rallied the Sooners to a strong record.
Nothing has changed since then. Caleb Williams is still as driven and detail-oriented as ever. He relentlessly pesters coaches with questions, not just about how a play is constructed but also about its purpose. The more he understands, the better prepared he’ll be to run them. What made Brees great wasn’t his arm strength or accuracy. It was his ability to think the game at high speeds. He knew where the ball was supposed to go and when. If defenses were aligned to counter a given play, he’d know to check to something else.
That is where Williams wants to be. He seems on the right track.
