Could Lincoln Riley Follow Caleb Williams Wherever He Goes In NFL Draft?
Caleb Williams is following up his Heisman Trophy winning 2022 season with an equally impressive start to 2023.
Williams has been nearly flawless during the USC Trojans' 5-0 start, completing nearly 75% of his passes. He's also added 21 passing touchdowns against just one interception with three rushing touchdowns.
But even that undersells just how good he's been. The Trojans have scored an average of 54 points per game, with Williams frequently making plays out of the pocket, showcasing exceptional downfield vision and accuracy.
Understandably, he's widely expected to become the first overall pick in next year's NFL draft. Despite some apprehensions about which team may wind up with the top spot.
But his head coach may provide a solution to that potentially thorny problem.
Writer Bruce Feldman from The Athletic appeared on the Rich Eisen show and said he believes Riley may leave USC for the NFL "down the road."
“I think at some point down the road, I think he will coach in the NFL,” said Feldman. “That’s my own (take). You know, he’s never told me that but that’s my guess because I think he’s a guy who I think is obsessive when it comes to like, x’s and o’s and kind of stuff. And I think you see that translate in, in a lot of guys. Whether it’s Mike McDaniel, or Shanahan or McVay, a bunch of guys, where I think he would be like, let’s see how this is gonna work now."
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Caleb Williams #13 of the USC Trojans jogs off the field during the second quarter on September 02, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images)
Handshake Deal For Riley To Join Williams?
Feldman was also asked if he believes there'll be some kind of arrangement for Riley to leave USC for the NFL as a package deal with Williams. And while he said he didn't believe that to necessarily be the case, it's certainly not impossible.
The Chicago Bears are the team most likely to wrap up the first pick, and with Justin Fields struggling and little faith in head coach Matt Eberflus, it stands to reason they could look for an exciting new player-coach package centered around Williams and Riley.
Another possibility Feldman mentioned is USC offensive analyst and quarterbacks coach Kliff Kingsbury returning to the NFL as a head coach. While the 2022 Arizona Cardinals season was a 4-13 disaster, Kingsbury's teams showed improvement from 2019-2021, culminating in an 11-6 season.
Kingsbury now has familiarity with Williams, something the Bears could value in hoping to entice him into leaving school.
Riley's never expressed much interest in leaving for the NFL, but Caleb Williams is his best quarterback yet, and the opportunity to prove himself at the top level of football may be too tempting to pass up.
While an immediate departure is far from certain, Feldman seems to think that it hasn't been entirely ruled out. Stay tuned.