Since arriving at USC in February 2022, reigning Heisman Trophy winner and projected No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft Caleb Williams has done nothing but dazzle.
The former five-star recruit and No. 1-ranked quarterback prospect in the 2020 recruiting class has carried a Trojans football team that can’t stop anyone defensively.
In Caleb’s 22 starts the team is 17-5, with three of those losses coming at the hands of the Utah Utes, who defeated them 34-32 on Saturday, giving USC their second consecutive loss and for all intents and purposes ending any chance at the College Football Playoff.
The loss along with Mahomes’ pretty average performance for the second straight week, by his standards, also hurts any chance of him becoming just the second player to win two Heisman Trophies.
These developments have a certain Fox Sports NFL analyst saying Williams should shut it down and prepare for the NFL draft.
Is he serious?
Emmanuel Acho Advises Williams To Shut It Down
In a tweet following the Trojans loss, Acho, who’s very opinionated as seen on FS1’s “Speak,” said this:
“With National Championships hopes gone, Caleb Williams should consider sitting out the rest of the season. The Heisman is a long shot, CFB Playoffs are even less likely, and he won’t play in the bowl game. The risk of playing FAR outweighs the reward. Business decision.”
Acho is saying the likelihood of Williams playing in a meaningless bowl game is highly unlikely. So, at this point the only thing that can happen is he gets hurt and costs himself some money.
Acho’s take is valid to an extent, but Williams and his dad are on record saying it’s no guarantee that he’s going to enter the 2024 NFL draft, if the wrong team lands the top overall pick.
Lincoln Riley And Trojans Have Done Nothing To Help Williams
In two seasons with Williams under center the Trojans have been awful defensively, and despite putting up crazy offensive numbers, it hasn’t netted a conference championship or CFP spot. Many weeks Williams has had to outscore the opponent because the Trojans can’t get a stop on the defensive side of the football.
Instead of addressing the failures of the defense as a whole, Riley instead consistently makes excuses and diverts blame as to why they’re underachieving so badly on defense. Riley has often said that his guys don’t “come in every week talking about a national championship.” But he must remember he’s the guy who said he didn’t leave Oklahoma “to play for second.”
Sounds pretty contradictory when you think about it, but no matter how you spin it, the Trojans and Riley have wasted a generational talent at QB the past two seasons.
In the end, what Caleb will do remains to be seen. We’ll be waiting to see if he bails on his teammates or sticks it out.
