Getty Caleb Williams of USC, who would potentially like to play for the San Francisco 49ers one day.
Though the San Francisco 49ers likely aren’t spending too much time scouting the top quarterbacks in the 2023 NFL draft class, what with their lack of a pick within the first 98 selections, they might actually have the reigning Heisman Trophy winner gunning for a spot on the team in 2024, when he is expected to be the top player off the board. Speaking with Lanae Brody of People, USC’s Caleb Williams was asked about which NFL teams he would like to play for and decided to add the Niners to that list.
“I like to be around younger coaches,” Williams says. “I’d probably go to the Dolphins. I also would be able to play with Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle, Mike Gesicki. The defense isn’t bad. That’s probably my number one spot.”
“San Fran, Raiders or Falcons, I’d play anywhere.”
After trading away their first-round pick in 2021, 2022, and 2023 in the deal for Trey Lance, the 49ers will have their first-round pick in 2024, when Williams could come out of USC if he forgoes his final year of college eligibility. Unfortunately, for the Niners to be in-range to draft Williams, they would probably have to lose their most games since 2016, when Chip Kelly was coaching the team.
Caleb Williams Hasn’t Ruled out Returning to USC in 2024
Elsewhere in his interview with People, Williams was asked about the prospects of leaving USC in 2023 to go pro, and curiously enough, he wasn’t completely sold on the concept despite being viewed as one of the best prospects in the class.
“I can’t say right now [what I’ll do],” Williams said. “The expectation from everybody would be that I would leave and go pro, but that would be a very, very in the moment kind of decision after speaking to family members and mentors that I believe in and trust their word.”
Fortunately for Williams, regardless of when he leaves, he will go down as USC’s first Heisman Trophy winner since Reggie Bush in 2005, even though he had to vacate the award.
“It’s a cool experience to be able to one, come back and kind of bring it back to USC and have such a prestigious trophy like that,” Williams says. “It just sits in my living room on my counter. I walk in every day and I get to see that. It’s awesome. I get to bring it back to USC, share that with all my teammates and go on another run to hopefully be able to win a National Championship. Maybe I’ll get another Heisman next year, which would be really cool also.”
If he can become a two-time Heisman Trophy winner during his forthcoming season at USC, Williams would join even more rarefied air, as only one other man, Archie Griffin, has achieved that honor in the award’s history.
The San Francisco 49ers Would need Pick 1 to Draft Caleb Williams
Though he isn’t eligible to be drafted in 2023, if he were, Max Chadwick of Pro Football Focus believes Williams would be selected first overall over Bryce Young despite the Chicago Bears already having Justin Fields under contract.
“This is by no means an indictment of Justin Fields, who still could become a franchise quarterback,” Chadwick wrote. “However, rumors are already swirling that the Bears may take Bryce Young in the actual 2023 NFL Draft and trade Fields. If that’s the case, then selecting Williams here is a no-brainer. The reigning Heisman winner led all quarterbacks when throwing outside of structure in yards (707), touchdowns (seven), and big-time throws (10). He’ll have teams tripping over themselves to draft him in 2024.”
Barring injury or another unforeseen circumstances, Williams is eventually going to be a professional quarterback in the NFL. Unfortunately for San Francisco fans, it probably won’t be as a member of the 49ers unless things go really bad or John Lynch lands another marquee, multi-first-round pick trade.