Caleb Williams was a star in college. Not a single person argued against that. He won a Heisman trophy and put up ridiculous numbers for two storied programs. He had everything from arm strength and accuracy to mobility and supernatural playmaking instincts. It wasn’t a shock that he would go #1 overall in the draft. Less talented quarterbacks than him have. The core issue for many evaluators, both inside and outside the league, was whether Williams could learn to play the more traditional way.
One of those people was Mike Tannenbaum. The former New York Jets and Miami Dolphins general manager had spent almost two decades evaluating quarterbacks as a scout and executive. He was outspoken before and after the 2024 draft that Williams’ preferred style of play would never work in the NFL at a high enough level. Fast forward to this week, and Tannenbaum became the first prominent NFL analyst to openly admit he was wrong. He went into detail about how much he regrets his assessment of Williams on the This Is Football podcast with Kevin Clark.
Caleb Williams succeeded where everybody thought he’d fail.
The running belief among most people is that quarterbacks predisposed to scrambling are rarely capable of learning how to operate from the pocket. Why should they? All of their success up to that point came primarily from being a superior athlete. It would be the same in the NFL. It’s not until it’s too late that they realize everybody at the pro level is a great athlete. If you want a decisive edge at this level, you must learn how to process the game mentally. Less running around, trying to hit big plays, and more taking what the defense gives you.
That first year, Caleb Williams had the same problem. He fell back on what made him great in college. It led to some spectacular plays, but defenses soon began adjusting to it. The opportunities dried up, and Williams started taking way too many sacks. Going into 2025, the quarterback had a decision to make. Does he stand his ground and force new head coach Ben Johnson to adjust the offense to what he does best, or does he embrace the challenge of learning how to play like a professional?
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Williams chose the latter.
The evolution has been mesmerizing.
Over the past two weeks, his operation of the offense has reached new levels. Williams is completing 70% of his passes and not turning the ball over. This isn’t being done the cheap way with countless checkdowns either. He’s still being aggressive. The difference is that his fundamentals are sharper, and he has way more trust in the offense compared to last year. Atlanta and New England had pretty good defenses. Williams hung 30 on both of them. He never once appeared out of control.
This is the player many thought he could never become. In hindsight, it is somewhat bizarre that they felt that way after watching Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, and Patrick Mahomes all successfully make the transition in previous years. If you get a motivated young quarterback under the right head coach, they can learn. It’s always been that way. At least Tannenbaum had the guts to admit he was wrong.
