Caleb Williams officially enters 2024 NFL Draft

He may have waited until the last possible moment, but USC junior quarterback Caleb Williams has officially declared for the NFL Draft, per his Instagram.

Today was the last day the former Heisman Trophy winner, or any college underclassman, could submit their name for the NFL Draft, leaving some to speculate whether Williams would return to USC for one more season.

Williams put that speculation to rest and is presumed to be the No. 1 overall pick in the late-April draft. The Chicago Bears own that pick thanks to a trade they made with the Carolina Panthers prior to last year’s draft.

The junior from Washington D.C. ends his college career with 10,082 passing yards, 93 passing touchdowns and 27 rushing touchdowns across three seasons, two with the Trojans and one with the Oklahoma Sooners.

When head coach Lincoln Riley jumped from Oklahoma to USC, Williams followed him to Los Angeles. He helped turn around a Trojan team that was 4-8 in 2021 to an 11-3 team in 2022 that was one game away from the school’s first College Football Playoff appearance.

Williams became the eighth Trojan to hoist the Heisman Trophy after a historic 2022 campaign. He set multiple records that year, breaking USC’s single-season records for total offense, total touchdowns, most completed passes, lowest interception rate and highest passing efficiency rate.

Now, he will try to carry that success to the NFL, but not before he gave a farewell to both USC and Oklahoma in his Instagram post.

“I want to thank Sooner Nation for embracing a kid who came to you from Washington D.C. I cherished my time at OU,” Williams said. “To my Trojan family, it’s been an honor putting on the cardinal and gold these last two years. I hope I gave you as many good memories as you have given to me. No matter what lies ahead, I will Fight On forever and rep Hornsdown4Life.”

The timing of Williams’ decision has a similar feel to when he first came to USC, as he did not officially announce his transfer until February 1, 2022 — despite Riley being named the head coach on November 28, 2021 — spending over a month in the transfer portal.

But — just as everyone figured Williams would follow Riley to Los Angeles in the end — it was long assumed he would declare for the draft after opting out of USC’s bowl game.

With the move now official, the Trojans will likely turn to redshirt sophomore quarterback Miller Moss to take over the helm from Williams.

Williams projects as the 86th Trojan to be selected in the first round of the NFL Draft, which takes place between April 25-27 in Detroit. It would be the fifth year in a row that USC has a player taken in the opening round.