At this time last year, Caleb Williams was a superstar for the USC Trojans and one of the most profitable NIL athletes that the NCAA has ever seen.
Now, he’s facing immense amounts of pressure as the new franchise quarterback for the Chicago Bears.
Looking back at his college career, Williams was called a generational talent. That helped him land the honor of being the No. 1 overall pick.
His NIL success was also massive, with Kalyn Kahler of The Athletic stating that he made around $10 million in his final two seasons with USC.
“Between NIL money and endorsements, Caleb made millions in his final two seasons at USC, with multiple sources putting the number around $10 million. It wasn’t like having a college quarterback on your roster. It was like having an NFL starting quarterback on your roster.”
One former NFL star did not hold back his criticism of the young quarterback. He even dropped a comparison that was meant as a diss for the Bears’ franchise face.
That former star was Amani Toomer, a wide receiver who is most known for playing with the New York Giants.
Toomer ripped into Williams for recently stating that his teammates need to clean up their lockers better.
“He’s Russell Wilson 2.0. This is not gonna go over well. … Some rookie’s gonna come in who hasn’t played one snap, talking, wearing the fingernail polish, now he’s gonna come in here and tell me, who has been here, been through the struggle, that I need to clean up?”
During his illustrious college career, Williams put up massive numbers.
He racked up 10,082 passing yards to go along with 93 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. In addition to his passing numbers, Williams ran for 960 yards and 27 touchdowns.
There are a lot of concerns about Williams and his ability to lead an NFL locker room. However, there are also a lot of signs that he has the talent and ability to live up to the massive hype he has received.
Just like he showed during his college career with the expectations and off the field NIL accomplishments, Williams has found ways to win. He expects to do that in the NFL as well.
It will be interesting to see how he develops over the next few years and if he can finally give Chicago the long-term franchise quarterback that it has been searching to find for years.
