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Caleb Williams probably has the NFL lamenting its eligibility rule

By Sayre Bedinger

Oklahoma's Caleb Williams (13) rolls out to pass during a college football game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the TCU Horned Frogs at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Okla., Saturday, Oct. 16, 2021.Ou Vs Tcu
Oklahoma's Caleb Williams (13) rolls out to pass during a college football game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the TCU Horned Frogs at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Okla., Saturday, Oct. 16, 2021.Ou Vs Tcu /
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Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Caleb Williams is not eligible until the 2024 NFL Draft. The league might wish they could make an exception for him.

The NFL has a rule about college players and the NFL Draft. You aren’t allowed to enter the draft until you are three years removed from your high school graduating class. The league has to be kicking itself about that rule watching Oklahoma’s Caleb Williams play.

Yes, it’s extremely early, but sometimes you can just tell when a kid has got it.

Coming into the 2021 season, all eyes were on Oklahoma quarterback Spencer Rattler, and understandably so. Lincoln Riley’s Oklahoma program has been a very fruitful breeding ground for NFL prospects at the quarterback position.

It’s not out of the question that we could see two of his former pupils — Cleveland Browns QB Baker Mayfield and Arizona Cardinals QB Kyler Murray — face off in this year’s Super Bowl.

Caleb Williams has fans lamenting the NFL’s eligibility rules

Unfortunately for Spencer Rattler, things haven’t worked out.

He’s gone from being projected as the next possible number one overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft to being out of the first-round discussion completely at this point. That is reflected in our latest 2022 first-round mock draft scenario.

With Rattler playing inconsistent and too loose, the Sooners’ offense has sputtered, and Lincoln Riley made a big change.

He took Rattler out of the game against Texas last week and put five-star freshman Caleb Williams in. Williams has been nothing short of electric.

A true freshman out of Washington D.C., Caleb Williams got his first start of the 2021 season against TCU, and he’s out there putting on an absolute show.

https://twitter.com/OU_Football/status/1449527554537189377

Given the fact that the 2022 NFL Draft class does not have a Trevor Lawrence (but maybe a Zach Wilson, hello Matt Corral), fans of the league and probably a lot of scouts and executives are wishing they had any sort of realistic chance of convincing Roger Goodell to make an exception and make Caleb Williams eligible for the 2022 Draft.

Are we knocking teeth out with knee-jerk reactions here?

Maybe, but the way Caleb Williams has played early on in his Sooners career has been nothing short of spectacular. He’s getting things done to every level of the field as a passer, and he’s been dynamic on the ground as a runner as well.

He’s played so well that on the broadcast on ABC during the game against TCU, he had Kirk Herbstreit legitimately wondering out loud whether or not Williams should be in the running for a Heisman this season if he keeps playing the way he has since he was inserted into the lineup last week.

It’s fair to wonder at this point, although they gave some much-deserved kudos also to Pitt quarterback Kenny Pickett, who continues to average about a touchdown every quarter so far this season.

For now, Sooners fans have the opportunity to sit back and enjoy. The NFL can join them, for that matter, because Caleb Williams isn’t coming to the NFL in 2022. Unfortunately.

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