I kind of need him to be exceptional, I have allowed far too much of my life's meaning to be influenced by the vagaries of NFL sundays, it isn't right, but it is. I want to love him, really I do - but I wasn't blown away by this pro day (not that that really matters, I WAS blown away by johnny manziel's pro day) it looked like every throw was a touch pass. I just wanted to see a couple of head-high lasers on out-breaking routes. Also, he measured exactly 6' - right? That concerns me a bit. Someone, please tell me everything is going to be fine.
Like Fields he's slow to get rid of the ball. 3.44 seconds in 2022 and 3.21 in 2023. Slower than Justin.
Like Fields he gets sacked waiting too long to throw the ball. He took 66 sacks the last two seasons, way more than any other top prospect. Associated with that issue and also like Fields, he fumbles a lot. 16 fumbles last year. No worries, everything is going to be just fine.
Let me start by saying Williams is my favorite QB prospect for the fantasy rookie draft this year, and he is in a tier by himself imo. Also, it's only really my second year trying to go deep on QB tape as I'm in more SF leagues now, so far from an expert at this let alone one with a proven track record. But I think the bolded from each post are concerns, and likely related to one another. From what I watched the weakest part of his game was short passes within 5 yards of the line of scrimmage, especially the middle of the field; mostly what we'd actually consider check downs, drag routes, and pop routes. I don't watch much of college football in the regular season, but from watching cut ups and condensed games, I can see an argument part of this was due to USCs game planning and play calling. I do however think it's also correlated to how difficult it is for shorter QBs to make these short yardage throws from the pocket over gigantic linemen.
For Williams specifically, it naturally resulted in a tendency to hold the ball, avoid his weakness with throwing to the short field where he can't see/get a good angle, and embrace his aggressive nature continue looking downfield, and wind up taking more sacks. On the flip side I think there are a few things we can project out of this.
1. I think this is coachable and something he can definitely work to improve on.
2. I think it can be schemed away from by a good OC by pushing check downs to the flats and outside the numbers. And probably most importantly:
3. One of Williams strengths is working outside of structure and when plays break down. So if he can get a better feel for pressure and know when to escape the pocket, he'll be able to improve his vision and angles to the short mid field area and still make plays there at a higher percentage than he would have remaining in the pocket.
I suppose we could even add in a 4, which would be another thing he showed he can do in the tape I saw; throw the ball away. I think there were times he took a sack when he should have thrown it away, but plenty of times he did make a good call to get rid of it rather than lose yardage. Overall, I thought he did well protecting the ball and avoiding turnovers, especially considering his aggressiveness and chasing big plays.
He has some shortcomings and flaws, but fewer than any other QB I've watched yet and I've made it through 5 now, so I doubt anyone I watch after this will leap frog him. I don't think any of these warts would push me off of taking him 1.01 in SF regardless of landing spot. And probably late 1st/early 2nd in 1QB leagues where I have a need at the position.