Caleb Williams On Taking Elite11 MVP Crown: 'More than a Trophy'

Sooners target outshines 19 other top prep signal-callers at competition in Nashville

Caleb Williams / Photo: Spencer Forsyth

Caleb Williams didn't exactly overpower the competition at the Elite11 finals in Nashville.

But when all was said and done, the outcome reflected what was already abundantly evident: no other prep quarterback in America can hold a candle to the 5-star Washington, D.C., native.

Williams took home the Elite11 MVP trophy on Wednesday afternoon, besting Brock Vandagriff, J.J. McCarthy and a host of other top high school signal-callers from around the country.

"This was a box I wanted [to check]," Williams said of taking home the title. "I wanted to come here last year. I wanted to come win, but you can't come as a junior. It's a bit more than this trophy. ... It meant a lot more."

Williams entered the event as the heavy favorite, but a mediocre pro day session cast some doubt on his chances to win. He was hyper-critical of his Day 2 performance, even after Trent Dilfer named him the event champion.

"I was very frustrated yesterday," Williams said. "I don't really have too many days like that. I know that wasn't me."

7-on-7 action was initially on the slate for Wednesday morning, but COVID-19 concerns prompted the event staff to alter the plans. Instead, the competitors participated in an eight-station target challenge, in which they were given 30 seconds to complete each throw through a ring target. Quarterbacks were given two-second deductions if their tosses hit the ring but didn't pass through.

Georgia commit Brock Vandagriff, once a Sooner pledge, won the event with a time of 1 minute, 43 seconds. He completed all but one pass in the allotted 30-second periods. Though Williams also hit on 7 of 8 targets, he took 3:13 to finish, which ranked 12th among the competitors. Uncommitted three-star prospect Grayson James was the only other quarterbacks to hit 7 of 8 targets.

"I really wish we would have had 7-on-7's, because that's really where you get to do some funky things and separate yourself from the other 19 guys," Williams said. "That's what I was hoping for. But we didn't get it, obviously, so we had to just face the adversity that we had, go indoors and start gripping and ripping."

Elite11's formula for the participants' final rankings put 75 percent weight into game tape, and 25 percent weight into their competition performance over the three-day event. Though Vandagriff, McCarthy and Carlos Del Rio made a run at the crown, Williams managed to hold them off in the end.

Caleb Williams, holding the Elite11 MVP trophy, will announce his college choice at 8 p.m. CT Saturday / Photo: Spencer Forsyth

Before he walked off the field with the trophy, Williams also set a time for his pending commitment: he'll choose between Oklahoma, LSU and Maryland at 8 p.m. CT on Saturday.

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