The USC Trojans star quarterback has already picked his landing spot for his professional career. Caleb Williams has been one of the most exciting and dominating players in college football for the past two seasons. He capped off his dominance this year and snagged the 2022 Heisman trophy.
The Washington, D.C., native followed his head coach Lincoln Riley from Oklahoma to USC and the two quickly turned the Trojans’ football program around. He led the Trojans to a 11-3 record this season while throwing for 4,537 yards and 42 touchdowns and adding another 10 rushing touchdowns.
The 21-year-old is entering his junior season and looks to be a lock as the first quarterback taken in the 2024 NFL draft. Despite not being draft eligible this year, Williams has already set his sights on Miami.
Williams’ Wish List
Williams did an interview with People magazine during the Super Bowl and gave NFL fans some insight on where he would like to be drafted.
“I can’t say right now (what I’ll do),” Williams told People. “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.”
He went on to discuss the possibility of playing in Miami.
“I like to be around younger coaches,” said Williams. “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 No. 1 spot.”
The Dolphins roster is not the only thing that has his attention, but he also loves the weather and team colors of the Dolphins.
“I also like the colors. The colors are pretty cool and the weather’s good.”
Williams also named the 49ers, Falcons, and Raiders as potential destinations for his services.
Miami’s Quarterback Situation
Tua Tagovailoa was drafted in 2020 to be the franchise quarterback for the Dolphins. Since being drafted though, there have been questions about his arm talent and now about his health.
The 24-year-old quarterback has yet to play a full season since being named the starter midway through the 2020 season. Last season, he missed four games and their playoff game due to concussion issues. He suffered two concussions in 2022 season.
Despite the health issues, Tagovailoa had his best season under first-year head coach Mike McDaniel. He threw for a career-high 3,548 passing yards and 25 passing touchdowns in 13 games.
Williams and Tua are both listed as 6-foot-1 and both are around 215 pounds. Williams has a noticeably stronger arm, is more athletic, faster, and less injur-prone so far. He also has the ability to extend plays that Tagovailoa once possessed before his hip injury.
Tagovailoa’s injury issues didn’t start when he got to the NFL. While at Alabama he suffered from broken fingers, broken ribs, fractured hip, and an ankle injury that needed surgery.
The Dolphins haven’t committed to Tagovailoa long term and Williams could be using this opportunity to create a John Elway or Eli Manning type of situation.
Will Caleb Williams Strongarm His Way To Miami?
In 1983, Elway was drafted by the Baltimore Colts but didn’t want to play there and threatened to play baseball until he was traded to Denver. Eli Manning announced that he would not play for the Chargers who picked him No. 1 overall in the 2004 NFL draft, but then traded him to the Giants for Phillip Rivers who was picked at No. 4.
Prior to the draft Manning let it be known that he would only play in New York.
Of course, the Dolphins would have to land the No. 1 overall pick in 2024, Williams would have to enter the draft, and Dolphins would have to be willing to let Tagovailoa walk. That is a lot of conditionals, and Dolphins fans along with Williams will have to wait to see how next season plays out.
