Former Cardinals HC Kliff Kingsbury Compares Caleb Williams to Patrick Mahomes
The Arizona Cardinals wanted Patrick Mahomes.
Well - everyone does after he's led the Kansas City Chiefs to the Super Bowl (multiple times) and already cementing himself as one of the most talented quarterbacks to take an NFL field.
Yet during the 2017 NFL Draft, the Cardinals were sitting at pick No. 13 and looking to add the then-Texas Tech gunslinger to the roster.
That's when Kansas City made the move from pick 27 into the top ten to grab Mahomes.
"I thought for sure when we were in Arizona, we were getting Patrick Mahomes," said former Cardinals coach Bruce Arians last year.
"As that draft was falling, I was like, 'he's ours'. Either him or Deshaun (Watson). But Pat, he's right there. Kansas City doesn't need a quarterback. They take him, we're saying 'what?', they got Alex Smith, [who] just went to the Pro Bowl. We thought he would [fall] and we loved him."
Patrick Mahomes was nearly an Arizona Cardinals before the Kansas City Chiefs would snatch him up in the 2017 NFL Draft by moving into the top ten.
As fate would have it, Mahomes and Watson would both be off the board by time Arizona picked. The Cardinals settled on Temple LB Haason Reddick, and Cardinals fans certainly don't need a reminder of how his tenure panned out in the desert.
It was a pick that could have swayed the entire trajectory of Arizona's franchise, but there's some who believe a second chance is coming around.
USC quarterback Caleb Williams is the latest in the short assembly line of insanely gifted passers who carry the "generational" label, and when you watch him, you get it. Williams is capable of making every throw up and down the field while also utilizing his legs.
The Cardinals certainly carry some factor of uncertainty with Kyler Murray's future, especially considering the quarterback still has an unknown timetable to return from a torn ACL/meniscus.
Working under a new regime, it's anybody's guess as to what the future holds - especially if Arizona finds themselves in position to take Williams next year in the 2024 NFL Draft.
That's a conversation that will have to wait until after the Cardinals see Murray back in action, which will be no sooner than Week 5 after he remained on the PUP list to begin the regular season.
Yet the conversation comparing Williams to Mahomes only grows louder, and somebody who has coached both sees the similarities.
USC quarterback Caleb Williams is the heavy favorite to be the first pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.
Kliff Kingsbury previously served as Texas Tech's head coach before he got the job in Arizona. Prior to his time roaming the sidelines at State Farm Stadium, Kingsbury was coaching Mahomes at the college ranks.
Kingsbury also coached Johnny Manziel at Texas A&M and says that prepared him for Mahomes - and eventually Williams.
“They’re here because they played that style. That’s how they play. Let’s just try and make that style work for them, and help it anyway we can. Like I said, I’ve gotten to see two really extreme cases of it, and they were both really fun to coach because of it," Kingsbury told SI.com's Albert Breer.
As for Williams-Mahomes comparisons?
“And this one [Williams], there’s eerily uncanny similarities—it’s cool to watch."
Cardinals fans certainly don't take the word of Kingsbury as gospel, but for so much outside noise comparing the two quarterbacks, it's interesting to see somebody who has worked hands-on with both make that comment.
Arizona State actually plays host to the Trojans this weekend, so perhaps Cardinals fans can see what all the hype's about with their own eyes.
