Caleb Williams

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Caleb Williams
Williams with Oklahoma in 2021
USC Trojans – No. 13
PositionQuarterback
ClassJunior
Personal information
Born: (2001-11-18) November 18, 2001 (age 22)
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Height6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight215 lb (98 kg)
Career history
College
Bowl games
High schoolGonzaga College (Washington, D.C.)
Career highlights and awards

Caleb Sequan Williams (born November 18, 2001) is an American football quarterback. He played college football at Oklahoma and USC. Williams won the Heisman Trophy and several other awards with USC in 2022 after throwing for over 4,500 yards with 52 total touchdowns, the latter being a single-season school record.

Early years[edit]

Williams was born on November 18, 2001, in Washington, D.C., later attending Gonzaga College High School.[1][2] As a sophomore in 2018, he led Gonzaga to a WCAC Championship as the best team in the District, and was named Washington Post All-Metropolitan 1st team and Washington, D.C. Gatorade Football Player of the Year after he passed for 2,624 passing yards with 26 touchdowns and rushed for 394 yards and 10 touchdowns. As a junior in 2019, he was named Washington Post All-Metropolitan 1st team for the second consecutive year after he passed for 1,770 yards with 19 touchdowns and rushed for 838 yards with 18 touchdowns. He was named the Elite 11 finals MVP the following summer.[3] In 2020 his senior season was cancelled due to COVID-19. The highest-rated quarterback prospect of his class, Williams committed to play college football at the University of Oklahoma.[4][5][6]

College career[edit]

Oklahoma[edit]

Williams entered his true freshman season at Oklahoma in 2021 as the backup to Spencer Rattler,[7][8] before assuming the role as starting quarterback midway through the Sooners' rivalry game with the Texas Longhorns in the team's sixth game of the season.[9] In that game, Oklahoma was down 35–17 before Williams replaced Rattler and led the Sooners to a 55–48 victory. He finished with 212 passing yards, 2 passing touchdowns, 88 yards rushing, and a rushing touchdown. Williams made his first start the following week, against Texas Christian University, and threw for 295 yards, four touchdowns, and rushed for 66 yards and a rushing touchdown as Oklahoma won 52–31.[10] In 7 games he finished his freshman year with 21 passing touchdowns, 6 rushing touchdowns, and 4 interceptions.[11]

USC[edit]

On January 3, 2022, Williams entered the transfer portal, and on February 1, he announced that he had transferred to USC, reuniting him with head coach Lincoln Riley, who had been the head coach for the Sooners before being hired away by the Trojans the previous November.[12][13] Williams was named the starter on August 25[14] and team captain on August 31.[15] In his first start against Rice, he went 19/22 with 249 yards and two touchdowns, as USC won 66–14.[16] He became the AP College Football Player of the Year, USC's first winner since Reggie Bush in 2005,[17] and was named the 2022 Heisman Trophy winner.[18]

Williams and the Trojans went 7–5 in 2023 during the regular season, throwing for 3,333 yards with 31 passing and 11 rushing touchdowns. He declared for the 2024 NFL draft following the season, finishing his college career throwing for nearly 10,000 yards with 120 total touchdowns.[19]

College statistics[edit]

Season School Games Passing Rushing
GP GS Record Cmp Att Pct Yds Avg TD Int Rtg Att Yds Avg TD
2021 Oklahoma 11 7 5–2 136 211 64.5 1,912 9.1 21 4 169.6 79 442 5.6 6
2022 USC 14 14 11–3 333 500 66.6 4,537 9.1 42 5 168.5 113 382 3.4 10
2023 12 12 7–5 266 388 68.6 3,333 8.6 30 5 170.1 97 142 1.5 11
Career 37 33 23–10 735 1099 66.9 9,782 9.2 93 14 169.3 289 966 3.3 27

Professional career[edit]

Pre-draft measurables
Height Weight Arm length Hand span
6 ft 1+18 in
(1.86 m)
214 lb
(97 kg)
32 in
(0.81 m)
9+34 in
(0.25 m)
All values from NFL Combine[20][21]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Caleb Williams '21 Named Gatorade D.C. Player of the Year". Gonzaga College High School. December 6, 2018. Retrieved October 11, 2023.
  2. ^ Murray, William (December 13, 2022). "Gonzaga and St. Pius X schools cheer as graduate Caleb Williams wins Heisman Trophy". Catholic Standard. Retrieved October 11, 2023.
  3. ^ Garcia, John Jr. (July 1, 2020). "Caleb Williams Named 2020 Elite 11 Finals MVP". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved October 11, 2023.
  4. ^ Lourim, Jake (July 4, 2020). "Gonzaga's Caleb Williams, the nation's top QB prospect, commits to Oklahoma". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 3, 2022.
  5. ^ VanHaaren, Tom (July 4, 2020). "Top dual-threat QB Williams commits to Sooners". ESPN.com. Retrieved October 11, 2023.
  6. ^ Aber, Ryan (July 5, 2020). "Caleb Williams commits to Oklahoma Sooners". The Oklahoman. Retrieved October 11, 2023 – via The Ledger, Lakeland, Florida.
  7. ^ Horning, Clay (April 24, 2021). "Horning: Caleb Williams should still be in high school but he stole the spring game instead". The Norman Transcript. Norman, Oklahoma. Retrieved October 11, 2023.
  8. ^ Aber, Ryan (August 8, 2021). "'Sky's the limit': Caleb Williams' growth backing up Spencer Rattler is crucial for OU football". The Oklahoman. Retrieved October 11, 2023.
  9. ^ Wilson, Dave (October 9, 2021). "Riley's QB swap pays off in 'epic' OU rivalry win". ESPN.com. Retrieved October 15, 2021.
  10. ^ Hoover, John E. (October 16, 2021). "Caleb Williams Shines as Oklahoma Downs TCU". SI.com. Retrieved October 11, 2023.
  11. ^ "Caleb Williams 2021 Game Log". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved October 11, 2023.
  12. ^ Thamel, Pete (February 1, 2022). "Former Oklahoma Sooners QB Caleb Williams transferring to the USC Trojans". ESPN.com. Retrieved October 11, 2023.
  13. ^ Williams, Caleb [@CALEBcsw] (February 1, 2022). "#FightOn" (Tweet). Retrieved February 1, 2022 – via Twitter.
  14. ^ Trevino, Chris (August 25, 2022). "Lincoln Riley: QB Caleb Williams will start the season for USC football". 247sports.com. Retrieved September 19, 2022.
  15. ^ Fletcher III, James (August 31, 2022). "Caleb Williams reveals his reaction to being named 2022 USC team captain". On3.com. Retrieved September 19, 2022.
  16. ^ "USC v. Rice Box Score". ESPN.com. Retrieved September 19, 2022.
  17. ^ Beacham, Greg (December 8, 2022). "USC QB Caleb Williams voted AP Player of the Year". Associated Press News. Retrieved October 11, 2023.
  18. ^ Uggeti, Paolo (December 10, 2022). "USC QB Caleb Williams outraces field, wins Heisman Trophy". ESPN.com. Retrieved October 11, 2023.
  19. ^ Thamel, Pete (January 15, 2024). "USC's Caleb Williams, potential No. 1 pick, enters NFL draft". ESPN. Retrieved January 16, 2024.
  20. ^ "Caleb Williams Draft and Combine Prospect Profile". NFL.com. Retrieved March 9, 2024.
  21. ^ "2024 NFL Draft Scout Caleb Williams College Football Profile". DraftScout.com. Retrieved March 12, 2024.

External links[edit]