Caleb Williams, Best QB Prospect Since Peyton Manning?

He's consensus top prospect in the 2024 NFL Draft class, but is Caleb Williams that much better than the most recent No. 1 picks?

It feels like the term "generational" gets used about NFL Draft prospects far more often than once every generation, and the latest to earn that label is USC quarterback Caleb Williams, the defending Heisman Trophy winner.

Even before the 2023 season began, Williams was crowned as the slam-dunk selection for the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. Had he been eligible this year, Williams likely would have been the top pick instead of Alabama quarterback Bryce Young.

But how does Williams compare as a prospect to the best quarterbacks we've seen enter the draft in recent years?

Speaking to anonymous scouts throughout the league, ESPN's Matt Miller got some responses that put Williams in rarified air as a prospect.

"Williams would have been drafted first overall in both 2020 [over Burrow] and 2021 [Lawrence]," another NFL general manager said. "That's no knock on either player -- and they're both really good in the league -- but Williams is a difference-maker. Joe and Trevor are distributors. Great ones. Caleb is a game-changer."

How big of a game-changer? Of the 12-plus evaluators we polled, every single one said Williams is the best quarterback prospect since Peyton Manning in 1998.

"The thing with Caleb is that he's a great passer -- on par with Burrow, Lawrence, etc. -- but he's also a great runner -- on par with Kyler Murray, Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen," said an NFC area scout with over 20 years of experience. "That's the thing people miss. He's the best prospect maybe ever at both components [combined]."

That's obviously sky-high praise for Williams, but so far, he's lived up to the preseason hype so far this season, and he's got the Trojans undefeated and pushing for a playoff bid, and a potential national title. He won't need any of those things to be next year's No. 1 pick, but they certainly wouldn't hurt his case.

The 2024 draft class is expected to be loaded with talented quarterbacks, and North Carolina's Drake Maye is the kind of prospect that would probably be the easy No. 1 overall pick in any other class that didn't feature a player like Williams.

But even with a deep crop of passers available this year, it appears crystal clear that Williams is the best of the bunch, and the best many scouts have seen in more than 20 years.