Caleb Williams meeting with very odd team at 2024 NFL Combine
Why is this team meeting with USC QB Caleb Williams at the Scouting Combine?
Caleb Williams is expected to be the first overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. The former Oklahoma and USC star has been under the microscope for two straight years, and folks have dissected every move he's made leading up to the 2024 Draft. Of course, with a prospect as high-profile as Williams, it's fascinating to know who is talking to him at the NFL Scouting Combine, because it's largely assumed that you will need the top pick to get him.
A number of teams picking in the top 10 will reportedly be having meetings with Williams at the Combine, including the Chicago Bears (1st overall), Washington Commanders (2nd overall), New England Patriots (3rd overall), and New York Giants (6th overall). But one of the most curious teams on Williams' meeting list is the New York Jets, who own the 10th overall pick in this year's draft.
#USC QB Caleb Williams, the potential top overall pick, arrives today at the NFL Scouting Combine and is expected to meet with the #Bears, #Commanders, #Patriots, #Raiders, #Falcons, #Jets, #Giants and #Vikings. Williams will do meetings, but no testing or on-field work. pic.twitter.com/x5onK00Ous
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) February 28, 2024
The Jets meeting with Williams at the Scouting Combine ultimately doesn't mean anything. It doesn't mean they are going to trade up from the 10th overall pick with the Bears and take him 1st overall. But it's interesting that the Jets are meeting with Williams at all.
Teams are allowed 45 formal meetings at the NFL Scouting Combine. Not every NFL team will get an audience with Williams, and the Jets are not in the market for his services. So what's the motivation to meet with him?
Williams could potentially end up on the New England Patriots, so it's not out of the question that the Jets will want to have a profile written up on him in case they have to play against him twice a year. Still, their meeting with him is fascinating, more so than any other team he's scheduled to meet with at the Combine.
Williams is not going to throw at the Combine because there's really no need for him to do so. He's proven on the field everything teams want to see, and everything else going forward will deal with whether or not prospective drafting teams determine Williams to be a fit with their franchise.
Given the way Aaron Rodgers responded to the Green Bay Packers drafting Jordan Love back in 2020, you also can't help but wonder how he's going to respond to the Jets securing a meeting with the best quarterback in this year's draft. Rodgers may not have much time left, but the Jets also don't have a realistic shot at drafting Williams.
The plot thickens, indeed.
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