Would it be shocking if Caleb Williams didn’t go #1 overall to the Bears? | Inside Coverage
Yahoo Sports' Jason Fitz, Charles Robinson, and Jori Epstein examine the potential impact of Caleb Williams' Pro Day performance on his status as the top pick in this year's NFL Draft. Hear the full conversation on “Inside Coverage” - part of the “Zero Blitz” podcast - and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen.
Video Transcript
JASON FITZ: Today was Caleb Williams' pro day, which means everybody's got all eyes on the presumptive first overall pick. I think, at this point, you know, knowing that the Bears have moved Justin Fields, we all know that a quarterback is gonna go number one. I don't think it's unfair, Jori, to say that it would be fairly shocking if that's not Caleb, right?
JORI EPSTEIN: Yes, I think it would be pretty shocking if Caleb doesn't go number one, and if you want to know about the Bears' level of interest in Caleb Williams, look no further than head coach Matt Eberflus being on site, general manager Ryan Poles, assistant general manager Ian Cunningham, among others. Like, they brought their whole crew down there.
Although, to be fair, the idea is it would be shocking that the Bears didn't pick him, but if you're wondering whether the other top drafting teams have interest, the top personnel man for the Patriots, director of college scouting Eliot Wolf, was also featured on that NFL+ live stream of the pro day, and for the Commanders, we saw head coach Dan Quinn, general manager Adam Peters, and offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury. So, pretty much anyone who is important to the decision for the top three drafting teams was at USC today.
JASON FITZ: What are we gonna see today that's going to change what we've already seen on tape?
CHARLES ROBINSON: You know, it's cliche, on pro days, to say this, but it's true, you can only hurt yourself, really. I mean, if you do well at your pro days, it's expected. You're not really doing anything that teams don't expect. They probably have an idea of what your arm strength is at that point. You know, what passes you can make on tape, you can make on there, obviously.
You get the wow, wind-up-and-throw-it-as-far-as-you-can throws at the end, but realistically, I think, unless you're just missing everybody high, you know, your 50 throws or 60 throws, however many you decide to do, if the script isn't challenging, you know, there can be some negativity about that, maybe, what your interaction is with other players on the field.
You know, like I said, I think, with Caleb, he was fine. He didn't hurt himself. You know, there were a few-- You know, Jori can tell you, there were a couple of moments where there was a little bit of inaccuracy issue at times, but nothing that doesn't happen in most pro days, you know? I think it was probably a pretty clean experience, all in all.
Probably, the most memorable pro day I ever went to was JaMarcus Russell's. And to this day, there are people in the personnel community who will tell you it's the best pro day they've ever been to with any quarterback, because his arm was insane. I mean, he looked like it was quite possibly the best arm that the NFL had ever seen in a pro day workout, and I think he was pretty much perfect.
And we all know how that turned out. He went to the wrong franchise, he had a number of things happen in his personal life, he got derailed, and never recovered as a player. And, you know, so, what does a pro day really say about that, that he can be so perfect at a pro day, and then just go off the rails as a prospect? It's more about, I think, how he engages with people and how challenging, you know, he makes the day for himself.
