Caleb Williams Labeled Well Tested by Pressure
The time to throw statistic became a huge talking point for the Bears with Justin Fields at quarterback over the last three years.
NFL NextGen Stats had him as the slowest to throw in the league in 2023 and near the bottom before this, leading to a great deal of criticism.
So when the Bears won the first pick in the draft again this year and Caleb Williams was the consensus top pick in the draft, the amount of time the USC QB took to pass became a huge concern. He had taken 3.44 seconds to throw in 2022 and 3.21 in 2023, both slower than Fields did in the NFL.
In essence, the possibility of Fields being replaced by Williams was viewed as a player who took even longer to get rid of the ball and didn't run as fast when he had to scramble.
This view was expressed by several scouts or former scouts including one named Daniel Kelly, who is positioned in the Merril Hoge Anti-Williams line.
Pro Football Focus' lead NFL Draft analyst Trevor Sikkema tried to put all of those concerns to rest by explaining why a quarterback with a release as quick as Williams does would be holding the ball so long. He explained it as simply trying to overcome his own team's deficiencies.
"If you take away the plays in which they fully broke down and he was moved off of his spot, if you take those away, his time to throw within structure is exactly like everybody else's," Sikkema said on the NFL Stock Exchange podcast with Connor Rogers.
The time would have been around 2.5 or 2.6 seconds according to Sikkema.
"Now, where you get the massive time to throw average, as a hole, is when the play breaks down, he is moved off his spot or he is scrambling and the reason why he holds the ball longer than anybody else is because he knows: One, the ball is best in his hands; Two, like we've talked about on this show, if he doesn't score a touchdown on every single drive his team probably is not winning the game because his defense is that bad."
USC's defense was 121st in points allowed out of 133 in FBS. They were 103rd against the pass, 109th in yards per rush and 123rd in preventing first downs.
"This is genuine context for him thinking he has to hold onto the ball, to find the biggest throw, to push the ball, to get another first down," Sikkema maintained. "That context absolutely matters."
In Williams' first year at USC in 2022, the Trojans might have been even worse on defense even though they were 112th in pass defense. They were 118th against the run and 121st at average yards allowed per play.
So it's safe to say Williams did indeed feel plenty of pressure to get the biggest play possible and score on every drive if not every play.
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