Caleb Williams ‘ready’ for likely No. 1 pick in 2024 NFL draft by the Chicago Bears

The NFL draft is among the most intriguing occasions on the sports activities calendar due to the unpredictability. Which groups will choose sure gamers and at what factors over the three days? Will a franchise commerce as much as safe a coveted prospect or commerce again so as to add future picks? 

Something and every thing is on the desk at 8 p.m. ET Thursday in Detroit. Nicely, aside from Caleb Williams. 

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The USC quarterback is all however assured to go No. 1 general to the Chicago Bears. Whereas different gamers will stress about being picked, he is aware of he’ll wait just a few minutes to listen to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell learn his identify on the podium. He’ll then stroll onstage, shake fingers, take pictures and begin getting ready to develop into the staff’s savior. 

“It’s a giant second, however I’ll undoubtedly be completely satisfied,” Williams advised the “TODAY” present in an interview that aired Thursday. “It’s a very long time for a good longer time to return. So I’m prepared. I’m prepared for the second and able to be welcomed onstage in my go well with and have a blast.”

Requested whether or not he’s going to tear up throughout such an emotional second, Williams mentioned no.

“I don’t assume I’m, as a result of I’ve form of gone over it a number of instances in my head, identical to I did the Heisman,” he mentioned. “I didn’t cry on the Heisman [ceremony]. Usually I cry after losses and large, large championship video games and issues like that. … However all of the feelings on the sector that you just see, I in all probability received’t have these. These are usually a bunch of adrenaline, a bunch of 60 minutes of kicking any individual’s tail.”

Gavin Morris, USC’s assistant athletic director and director of participant improvement, agreed Williams will likely be cool, calm and picked up.

The NFL draft “is not any completely different than being down 4 [points] with 1:20 left on the clock and it’s important to drive,” Morris mentioned. “Some individuals are constructed otherwise.”

Williams is the consensus prime prospect after a dominant faculty profession at USC and Oklahoma. Final season he threw for 3,633 yards, 30 touchdowns and solely 5 interceptions. The earlier season he received the Heisman Trophy as the very best participant in faculty soccer, with 4,075 yards, 37 touchdowns and simply 4 interceptions over 13 video games.

Williams, a Washington, D.C., native, has drawn comparisons to Kansas Metropolis Chiefs celebrity Patrick Mahomes for his arm power, contact and instincts. When a play breaks down, he doesn’t get rattled. He thrives within the chaos higher than some other quarterback prospect in years.