Heading into a 2024 NFL draft that saw a record six quarterbacks get taken in the first 12 picks, Caleb Williams was widely viewed as the clear-cut consensus top quarterback of the class. Though five other teams took quarterbacks early in the first round of the draft, it seemed that any quarterback-needy team would have taken Williams if they had the No. 1 pick.
That might not have actually been the case for the Broncos and head coach Sean Payton though, who ended up selecting Bo Nix with the No. 12 pick. According to a section of Seth Wickersham's new book American Kings: A Biography of the Quarterback, detailed by Jon Greenberg of The Athletic, Payton scouted Williams prior to the 2024 NFL draft and had doubts if he could "excel" at the NFL level.
Per Wickersham, Payton "loved" Williams's arm at USC, but "worried a little about his processing speed" and saw "too many easy completions left on the field, open receivers that Williams fails to spot quickly." Payton has a formula that weighs negative plays, which Williams had a higher number on than either Nix or No. 2 pick Jayden Daniels. Additionally, Wickersham detailed that Payton questioned how Williams would handle failure.
Those concerns from Payton got put to the test during Williams's tumultuous rookie season. The Bears made multiple in-season changes to their coaching staff in 2024, and Chicago fell off after a 4-2 start to the season. Williams flashed his talent and upside at points throughout the year, but also had some concerning issues such as holding on to the ball too long which resulted in him taking a league-high 68 sacks. He appears to be in a better position to rebound and take the right steps forward in his career under new head coach Ben Johnson.
The excerpt doesn't specifically state if Payton would have actually taken Nix or another quarterback over Williams had the Broncos had a higher pick in last year's draft. However, it's no secret that Payton was enamored with Nix heading into the draft.
Shortly after the Broncos picked Nix, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported that Payton felt "as strongly about Bo Nix as he did Mahomes," who he wanted to take in the 2017 NFL draft. After a strong rookie campaign that saw Nix lead the Broncos back to the postseason for the first time since 2015, Payton might feel even stronger about his quarterback.
“I honestly think he’s gonna be one of the top quarterbacks within the next two years,” Payton told Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer earlier in training camp. “I think he’s going to be a superstar.”
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Sean Payton Reportedly Had Doubts if Caleb Williams Could Succeed in NFL Before Draft.
