Thanks for the info. I hadn’t heard anything about Daniel’s not getting along, but burrows had a similar trajectory at LSU.
A little went public and there wasnt a big issue behind the scenes. Just some back and forth with teammates. Mostly bs not a big deal but it's there.
Again my big thing is I want someone who can develop these guys, someone that can help them grasp the tough stuff easier. Someone who can really watch tape and not only play to their strengths but also understand how a defense might react so they can adjust with specific built in options. Hold their hand when things get tough. You get the point by now.
If you feel that strongly you take the prospect but we all know how important coaching is to a young QB.
Anyway I really like Daniels. Going back to his ASU days he tossed beautiful deep passes. He's very good targeting the boundary in general for fades, go etc. Good accuracy obviously and has an arm. Arm isnt special but its more than good enough. Velocity could improve but hes got enough strength. Throws away from the leverage, protects his ball but gives his guy a chance to make a play.
His rushing abilities are outstanding. He's not Lamar or AR15 but he's electric. Speed quickness vision in the open field. He leaves his feet too easy and takes too many big hits but he's a nightmare for defenses. You almost have to play some type of 2hi/shell over the top but that'll inevitably leave lanes for him to rush. Balty never accomplished it bc they always end up hurt but pair him with a top tier back (Robinson, Stevenson etc) and "good luck" (Marco from Taken voice) He led power 5 in yards per rush and pass. So between his deep ball and rushing attack
he's already quite the handful in terms of how you would want to prepare for him. Very good on the move. Eyes stay down field. Accurate comfortable delivery doesn't change. Isn't a one read guy. Bright spot for sure.
He wasn't comfortable in PA early on in his career and although he's improved it stands out from from time to time. MOF/short area/intermediate areas are hit or miss. He's not avoiding them but not really comfortable. Occasionally his delivery looks disjointed. He's not comfortable digesting concepts in the mof, letting them develop, deliver with proper time. Longer he has to go from read to read the more likely the ball is to be incomplete.
For a OC I would someone really good at creating and designing explosive plays down field. Someone with a solid outstanding of how mesh works and how to get targets open in the mof with underneath routes. To make that as easy as possible. RPO/Designed runs. Put an exclamation point on his strengths. Let him produce how he knows. Make the tough stuff and weaknesses (mof, progressions) as easy as you can.
Caleb Williams really is a unique prospect in a lot of ways. He's not "generational" imo but he does possess a lot NFL qualities snd attributes.
His arm is NFL ready and really is what the "new" arm looks like. Like Baker Mayfield is similar to a closer in baseball. One or two pitches, mostly gas. Not the most versatile arm but very effective when on. Williams is more "whip" imo than arm. Very elastic, flexible and able to create power in short burst. Different arm angles. Ability to layer, thread the needle or drive it 50+ down field. Plus velocity and accuracy off balance, on the move.
His ability to make something out of nothing is well documented. Ability to escape is second to none. He brings it on himself a lot of the time but his instincts, anticipation and "feel" in the pocket is impressive. Very patient and aware.
Mobility and ability to extend are extremely impressive
and rare but a lot of that is a facade imo. He needs (2023) 3.2 - 3.4 (2022) seconds to pull off these little showstopping moments. In fact that's the average time to pass so he's already in bottom half in terms of NFL QBs. You have Flacco, Watson, Stroud, R Wilson, Hurts, Mullens all in bottom half at around 3 seconds but half those guys
can make it happen or
could in Wilson's case. So you can see a path but still not where you want to be. Then you have Justin Fields on an island at 3.23. Most "time to throw" numbers are around 2.6 - 2.8. Anticipation was good in and out of structure. "Scheme" at USC was a joke though. They had big time OL issues and couldnt pick up a blitz to save their lives but that offense was awful to watch. Living off screens and short stuff, I mean living off them to try and set up fades, wheel routes over and over. On the surface it looked tailored to him and again they had personnel issues. So some of the pressure he dealt with was bc of that but that offense was a mess. Did him no favors imo.
Ball security is an issue. 33 fumbles over his career. He has a habit of holding the ball out too often. Again a lot of the pressure was bc of the OL but he has too get better here. Honestly coaching can help some but this is mostly in him. This was a coaching issue in HS. Now it's a Caleb issue. Pro coaches will yell at him but he'll have to make the effort and work on the details.
Down field and intermediate accuracy will have to improve some and certainly be complemented by targets with a plus catch radius, ability to go up and get the ball and catch through contact bc it's doubtful you'll see dramatic improvements. He will hold Saf, move second level defenders. He often makes things hard on himself but he's shown process, adjust and react with NFL-like quickness both mentally and physically.
Footwork is spotty and could improve but it's the price you pay for explosive plays and what he brings to the table. Release can be extremely quick and is made for an rpo system. Which he ran a lot of but again personnel issues. Too many passes where he made it hard on himself though. Would choose to "go with flow" while on the move instead of setting his feet. He does set up but not enough imo.
Slightly improved on mechanics the past few years. Which led to better trajectory on passes in general but definitely deep stuff.
Plus vision he wants to snd is always looking for a play, mostly big play but he's got eyes always set down field.
Maybe on the "small side" at 6'1 but built and looks all of 215.
Insane TD/INT ratio stats and accomplishments. Plenty of big game experience. Where almost everything was placed on his shoulders. Entirely too much. 6-8 against top 25 teams I believe. McCarthy is like 9-3 but only averaged 19 attempts I believe. Nix has a lot of big game experience but never really stepped up like you'd want. Maye has no games against top 10 teams I believe and his accuracy and comp% slipped a good amount. Daniels and Williams were asked to do the most and performed well despite the 6-8 record with little help. Daniels and Williams clearly don't mind the big stage and neither does JJ.
There is a clear path for success with his game. Loss of Addison and others hurt but he did a great job keeping his team in every game to a point. You're going to need a rockstar HC. He's going to be a therapist, creative play designer with personality and experience. Williams coaching really failed him in a lot of ways early on and his success is a testimony to his gifts not coaches. He wasn't terrible in structure but they gave him little volume there. Lack of creativity in play design or variation off certain plays was a consistent issue. He's going to need someone that can hold his hand but also have Williams respect. So he can set boundaries and principles from the get go. It's extremely important Williams respects the HC early on. You don't want to let him run things bc of failed HC's early on. We've seen how quickly things spiral. Strong foundation early on is key! Specifically for Williams though
