When the Washington Commanders hired former Arizona Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury as their new offensive coordinator over the weekend, speculation began immediately about the future of Caleb Williams.
Williams, the USC quarterback projected to be the first pick in the 2024 NFL draft, is close with Kingsbury. Kingsbury spent the 2023 season as a senior offensive analyst at USC and developed a close relationship with Williams.
There’s only one problem: Washington holds the No. 2 overall pick. The Chicago Bears have the No. 1 pick.
So, for the Commanders to bring Williams home — he’s from Washington, D.C. — and reunite him with a coach he likes and respects, it must somehow convince the Bears to trade the top pick.
ESPN analyst and former NFL defensive back Louis Riddick weighed in on the matter as a guest on “Get Up” and said the Commanders must do whatever possible to land Williams.
“If you want him, even if Chicago doesn’t want him. you’re going to have to move to No. 1 to assure yourself that you would get him because someone else will try to come there and get him as well,” Riddick said. “And I understand why you would try and move for a young man like Caleb Williams. In particular, Washington, to assure themselves that they would get him. And that’s because, look, the guy, truly, truly from a passing the football perspective, from an off-schedule playmaking perspective, from a running perspective, I watch this young man do some things where you’re sitting there and you’re going, look, he has some of that kind of pocket presence, foot quickness, arm talent and then speed that goes above and beyond what Patrick (Mahomes) can do.”
Riddick isn’t the first person to compare Williams to Mahomes.
He is convinced Washington should do everything in its power to convince the Bears to move to No. 2.
“So, if you’re sitting there and you’re Washington, and you have Kliff Kingsbury, and Caleb is from the area, and he has a great relationship with Kliff already, and he’s putting on Instagram ‘My dawg,’ don’t overthink some things here,” he said. “We overthink a lot of things with football; we twist ourselves up a lot of times trying to get to a conclusion that we know ain’t the right conclusion. The right conclusion for Washington is do what you got to do to get this guy on your football team because nobody in your organization, and I mean nobody, knows Caleb like Kliff Kingsbury does…………..and if he gives his stamp of approval, then you move heaven and Earth to try and get in position to draft him because you ain’t going nowhere with the people you got — nowhere. Make it happen.”
It may be only one spot, but if Chicago trades the pick — and that’s a big if — the Bears will ask for the moon because they know the Commanders want Williams.
@LRiddickESPN saying Washington do what you gotta do to get this guy in the building. Louis also says it’s a big gap between Caleb and the #2 guy Jayden Daniels pic.twitter.com/HnnqBTjrxY
— Saint (@SaintWah) February 6, 2024
