NFL Draft Prospects to Watch Week 10

The tough tests continue for top CFB quarterbacks!

The tough tests continue for quarterbacks as we look at elite prospects and one under-the-radar SEC quarterback. There’s also arguably the biggest battle of the season for an SEC cornerback this weekend.

USC QB Caleb Williams

Entering the season, the public opinion was that USC Caleb Williams would be the Heisman winner, the unanimous #1 overall pick, and is a generational talent. Since then, things haven’t been going great for USC in general – although, it’s still widely agreed upon that Williams is incredibly talented and is going to be a VERY early pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. However, he’s no longer the unanimous QB1 or #1 pick with what North Carolina’s Drake Maye has put on film.

Defenses have adjusted to Williams and this offense by dropping seven or eight in coverage to cause as much traffic as possible downfield. Everyone can recognize that Williams is at his absolute best when he’s working out of structure so defenses have opted to give him time but keep him in the pocket and cover downfield.

Williams has struggled when pressure starts to come in while defenses remain disciplined and he’s gotten into the habit of trying to force throws at times. Williams this season has the tenth-longest time to throw at 3.17 seconds on average. Despite that time, he’s got the shortest average depth of target of his career while also already having more turnover-worthy plays this year than in either of his first two seasons.

Against this Washington Huskies defense, they’ll likely take the same approach as other teams that have found success against Williams this season, except they’ve got Bralen Trice to generate pressure. Williams needs to, at the very least, handle the drop seven (or eight) defense properly this weekend.

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