Caleb Williams has accomplished great things as a football player. Whether it was knocking down the No. 1 prospect Spencer Rattler as a freshman at Oklahoma, following Lincoln Riley to USC and promptly winning the Heisman Trophy, or being selected first overall in the NFL Draft himself, Williams’ confidence is reflected in both his dazzling style of play and his personality.
But this trend of young fielders badmouthing their older counterparts—I’m looking at you, CJ Stroud—leads to unnecessary criticism of already high expectations. Whatever. That didn’t stop Stroud from leaving Josh Allen off his list of top five quarterbacks, and it didn’t stop Williams from naming Aaron Rodgers and Matthew Stafford as the NFL’s top two quarterbacks ahead of three-time Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes.
No. 1 pick Caleb Williams on his admiration and respect for #Aries QB Matthew Stafford…🗣️
“I wasn’t happy with his ranking (NFL Top 100)… Matthew is one of the TOP 2 QBs in the league.” @CALEBcsw @ChicagoBears @heykayadams pic.twitter.com/RMbRv9N63I
— Up & Adams (@UpAndAdamsShow) 8 August 2024
It’s one thing for a young player to say he models his game after the likes of Rodgers and Stafford. It’s another thing to assume that a 40-year-old Rodgers, fresh off an Achilles injury, and an oft-battered Stafford are superior to Mahomes. What makes it even stranger is that Mahomes is by far the player Williams is most often compared to. It’s not close. So leaving him out is almost petty-odd to me.
Actually, it is more disrespectful than anything else. That has been the case a lot lately with the Chiefs and Mahomes. Whether it is the rival Raiders make fun of Mahomes’ voice with a custom Kermit doll or the top 100 rankings chosen by the NFL players Mahomes is demoted to 4th place overall and QB2 behind Lamar Jackson, the hits don’t stop.
Chiefs superfan Nick Wright will then have his brain twisted into a pretzel.
Nick Wright hopes the Chicago Bears will make it to the Super Bowl pic.twitter.com/QalBA6XIDi
— Awful Announcement (@awfulannouncing) 6 August 2024
Somehow, when something like this happens in the media world, the pressure on the Chiefs is somewhat alleviated. Regardless of Williams’ intent, everyone will read the subtext that he intentionally left out Mahomes as one of the top two quarterbacks.
Maybe he sees the situation with Andy Reid more favorably than anyone else in the league. Maybe he has bigger goals than Mahomes, which reeks of delusional self-confidence to me. Why would I throw that out there as a remote possibility? Just look at the lock screen on Williams’ phone:
Caleb Williams’ phone wallpaper 📱 pic.twitter.com/EJKFkFifpC
— DraftKings Sportsbook (@DKSportsbook) 20 April 2024
That’s right. Williams isn’t chasing his contemporary and oft-compared peer Mahomes. He’s out to surpass Tom Brady’s seven Super Bowl wins. Also note that Williams uses a quote about being at war in his own head, as opposed to competing against anyone else. Like I said, there’s a borderline, delusional confidence on display here, but that’s a big part of what has driven Williams to accomplish so much on the field thus far.
I give everyone credit for being so comfortable in their own skin, especially with so much outside noise and such intrusive public interest. I wonder if Caleb Williams will be as good as many of us think? Because he talks so big, like it’s an inevitability that he’s going to be leagues better than any quarterback in Chicago Bears history.
I’m here for all of that, but as they say, youth is wasted on the young, and to put it kindly, it’s very *youthful* of Williams to give Mahomes even more of a push. Because in the end, it might actually be Mahomes with the eight rings, and Williams is hoping to do the same. The Chiefs are almost halfway to that mark already.