Getty Caleb Williams, prospective Patriots draft target
Everybody, it seems, loves Caleb Williams. His numbers, admittedly, are not great, however for the USC Trojans. The team lost five of its final six games and while that was hardly all his fault, he got ample credit for the USC wins, and he should get ample blame for their losses. Despite all that, ESPN imagines the quarterback-needy Patriots draft yielding Williams in exchange for a trove of picks.
Williams, remember, had a very good team around him, yet could only get his team to a 7-5 record. If there was some question about how good the rest of the Trojans were, remember, when Williams sat out for the USC Holiday Bowl game against 16th-ranked Louisville in December, his backup Miller Moss led the Trojans to 42 points and a victory, calling into question just how valuable Williams really is.
Yet, as ESPN’s Field Yates sees it, the Patriots are in position to give up the No. 3 pick in the draft, as well as their very good No. 2 pick (34th overall) and a 2025 first-rounder to move up for Williams, whom Yates tagged as a quarterback, “getting ‘generational prospect’ buzz,’ which is fine except that “generational” has been watered down to mean something along the lines of “very good.”
Could Patriots Draft Learn From Panthers Mistake?
OK, so here is the package that Yates proposes for the top overall pick, and he makes no bones about the fact that the Pats would take Williams with the top pick. But check out what the Pats might have to give up for No. 1:
“No. 3 pick, 2024 second-round pick (No. 34), 2025 first-round pick.”
This essentially invites the same problem the Panthers had this year, as they traded up for No. 1 last year, took Bryce Young, stunk terribly with Young (2-15) and have to cough up the No. 1 pick this year. The Patriots would be setting themselves up for the same issue if they did as Yates wants.
Here’s what he wrote about the deal: “This would have to be motivated by New England not wanting to settle for the class’s QB3.”
That QB3 is probably going to be LSU’s Jayden Daniels, though it could be Drake Maye of North Carolina. Both have flaws, but both could be stars. There seems to be very little reason for the Patriots to give up a haul to move up two spots, not with as many questions as there are about Williams.
Pats 2nd-rounder Will Be Valuable
Yates wrote further about the deal and compared it to a potential Washington offer.
“The price to move to No. 1 is slightly steeper than the hypothetical Commanders offer because the Bears would of course be moving one spot further back.
“Whereas the Commanders’ included second-rounder is No. 40, the Patriots would be giving up the No. 34 selection. It’s a pretty big package, and the Pats would have to really like Williams — or at least heavily prefer two of the signal-callers to the third one.
“But New England also needs stability under center as coach Jerod Mayo takes over, and it might not be happy to just land any of the top three guys.
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