USC Football

USC wide receiver Brenden Rice announced that he's declaring for the 2024 NFL Draft in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Rice is the son of NFL legend and Pro Football Hall of Famer Jerry Rice, arguably the greatest wide receiver the league has ever seen. Brenden spent time with both USC and Colorado throughout his college football journey, totaling 111 receptions for 1,821 yards and 21 touchdowns.

This included 12 touchdown catches in 2023, the most of any Trojans wideout.

Rice earned Second Team All-Pac-12 honors in 2023 following his breakout year, showcasing his exceptional combination of speed and mid-air body control to adjust and make difficult catches seem effortless. Pro Football Focus currently has him ranked as the No. 96 prospect in the draft.

The three-time Super Bowl champion has enjoyed watching his son's college career blossom with the Trojans, as the two have developed a closer relationship in recent years.

"Just going there, supporting him, being there in the stands, and watching him perform on the football field is really exciting," Jerry said in an interview with Haley Van Horn of People magazine on Nov. 25. "It's one of those things where I knew that if he should follow in my footsteps, the pressure that would be put on him, and he was willing to take that on. And I think he's doing a fantastic job."

The younger Rice recently accepted a Senior Bowl invitation, although his status for USC's matchup with Louisville in the Holiday Bowl on Dec. 27 is still undetermined. Caleb Williams, the Trojans' standout quarterback, has already announced his decision to skip the game and avoid suffering an injury that could lower his draft stock should he choose to declare.

While Drake Maye has surely caught the eye of NFL teams and evaluators as the draft approaches, USC's Caleb Williams is still the top quarterback.

At least in the eyes of ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr.

"Williams—assuming he enters the draft—is going to have his 2023 season picked apart for the next five months, but when you really study his tape, you'll see he was still tremendous," the draft evaluator said. "He is an outstanding talent, a passer who can do rare things when he's moving in and outside the pocket. Plus, the reality is Maye had some inconsistent games and didn't grab his chance to move up down the stretch. Williams is going to go wire to wire as my No. 1 QB."

Williams won the Heisman Trophy last season and had the Trojans on the doorstep of the College Football Playoff until they lost to Utah in the Pac-12 Championship Game.

This season was much more inconsistent, as USC went 7-5 overall with a 1-5 mark in its final six games. Much of that was because of a poor defense, but Williams had a downtick in his own numbers even though he still completed 68.6 percent of his passes for 3,633 yards, 30 touchdowns and five interceptions.

The biggest question at this point is whether he will go No. 1 overall.

That might come down to whether the Chicago Bears, who own the Carolina Panthers' first-round selection via trade, decide to stick with Justin Fields or start over at the quarterback position. The Bears are currently positioned to pick first, although the Arizona Cardinals—who are slated at No. 3 in the current standings—could face a similar decision with Kyler Murray.

But Williams is well-positioned regardless of who chooses first to go early in the draft.

In one of the least surprising developments of bowl season. USC quarterback Caleb Williams, the potential No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft, will not play in his team's Holiday Bowl matchup against Louisville.

Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley told reporters as much Monday.

Williams did play in USC's bowl game last year and threw for 462 yards and five touchdowns in a 46-45 loss to Tulane that underscored the program's defensive problems that prevented it from winning a Pac-12 title and competing in the College Football Playoff.

Expectations were high entering the 2023 campaign considering the signal-caller won the Heisman Trophy last season and was returning.

However, USC lost five of its final six games following a 6-0 start and was nowhere near CFP discussions by season's end.

While Williams took a step back production wise from last year, he was still largely excellent and completed 68.6 percent of his passes for 3,633 yards, 30 touchdowns and five interceptions. Three of those picks came in a loss to Notre Dame, meaning he played mistake-free football for most of the rest of the season.

Alas, it was a disappointing season for the Trojans and the reigning Heisman Trophy winner, who will not join Ohio State's Archie Griffin as the only players to win the award twice.

Now that he is not playing in the bowl game, attention turns to the NFL draft.

He could become the No. 1 overall pick, although that may depend on which team ends up picking first. If it is the Chicago Bears or Arizona Cardinals, they may look elsewhere and decide to stick with Justin Fields and Kyler Murray.

B/R's NFL Scouting Department projected the Cardinals to select Ohio State wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. with the No. 1 overall pick in a mock draft last month with Williams going No. 2.

There may even be some trading and maneuvering to get to the top like there was last year when the Carolina Panthers moved up to take Bryce Young with the first pick. If that is the case, Williams' future team may not be decided until well after the NFL season ends.

Lincoln Riley and the USC Trojans made a big addition to their coaching staff Friday as they hired D'Anton Lynn away from rival UCLA as their new defensive coordinator, according to ESPN's Pete Thamel.

Lynn, 34, is a rising star in the collegiate coaching ranks following an excellent first season leading the Bruins' defense in 2023. He took a unit that was ranked No. 89 in total defense the previous year and made them the No. 11 group in the country.

He will have his work cut out for him as he replaces Alex Grinch, who was fired during the season following the Trojans' loss to Washington back on Nov. 4.

Grinch and the rest of USC's defense struggled mightily this season, allowing 34.92 points per game as well as a whopping 438.8 yards of total offense—both of which are bottom three marks in the Pac-12.

Prior to his stint at UCLA, Lynn had nearly a decade of experience working at the professional level with a number of NFL teams. His most notable position came with the Baltimore Ravens from 2021-22 as the team's safeties coach.

Lynn will help lead the Trojans into a new era as they enter the Big 10 next season. He'll look to compliment an offensive side of the ball that is normally elite thanks to Riley and Co.

USC star quarterback Caleb Williams is in the running to be the No. 1 pick in the 2024 NFL draft, but it sounds like it's not guaranteed that he's ready to turn pro.

Williams told Ryan Kartje of the L.A. Times (h/t Myles Simmons of Pro Football Talk) that it's still a "game-time decision" on whether or not he will declare for the draft by the Jan. 15 deadline.

Williams' comments somewhat echo those of his father, Carl, who said in September that his son might return to USC "if there's not a good situation" available to him in the NFL. However, Kartje noted that "no one around Williams seems to consider returning to USC for a third year a likely outcome any longer."

The 2022 Heisman Trophy winner has one more year of eligibility, and it sounds like he's considering using it to make up for a disappointing 2023 campaign that saw the Trojans finish with a 7-5 record. Williams still performed at an incredibly high level, completing 68.6 percent of his passes for 3,633 yards with 30 touchdowns and five interceptions while also adding 11 rushing scores.

Despite his individual brilliance this year, Williams admitted that this season has taken a bit of a toll on him.

"I've never been in this situation, where I'm 7-5 and there are no playoff hopes at the end of the season," Williams said. "I'm dealing with it emotionally, dealing with it spiritually and physically. It's been one of the most important years I think I've had. It's tricky."

Williams made waves when he was seen crying in his mother's arms following USC's loss to Washington on Nov. 4. Still, he's not concerned with how that might affect his perception at the next level.

"There's a time and a place for everything," Williams said. "But I'm far from ashamed about showing my emotion after any of the losses this year. It shows truth. It shows care. All that. I'm getting better at it, showing it in the right place and the right time. But if I won a national championship or a Super Bowl years down the line—if I was winning, nobody would be saying anything."

HEIGHT: 6'1"

WEIGHT: 214

HAND: 9¾"

ARM: 32"

WINGSPAN: 75⅞"

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40-YARD DASH:

3-CONE:

SHUTTLE:

VERTICAL:

BROAD:

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POSITIVES

— Great arm talent. Throws with good velocity and can manipulate the ball's flight to make any throw.

— Rare ability to throw off-platform and on the move. Flexible, explosive torso.

— Great accuracy to all three levels. Can offer wonderful touch placement when needed.

— Elite patience and vision as a playmaker.

— Above-average processing skills. Handles USC's offense well.

— Above-average athlete. Twitchy and flexible mover.

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NEGATIVES

— Below-average height for the position.

— Footwork can make him late with on-schedule throws. Often drops back square to the line of scrimmage and needs extra steps to gather himself.

— Aggressive to a fault as a playmaker at times.

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2023 STATISTICS

— 12 G, 266-388 (68.6%), 3,633 YDS, 9.4 Y/A, 30 TD, 5 INT, 170.1 RTG; 97 ATT, 142 YDS (1.5 AVG), 11 TD

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NOTES

— Born Nov. 18, 2001

— 5-star recruit in 2021 class, per 247Sports

— Transferred from Oklahoma to USC in 2022

— Two-year starter

— 2022 Heisman Trophy winner; 2022 unanimous first-team All-American

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OVERALL

Caleb Williams is electric, plain and simple.

It all starts with arm talent. He doesn't throw with quite the same velocity of Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen or Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert, but he can really spin it. Williams can also flick the ball 50 yards downfield like it's nothing. Combine that with pretty consistent accuracy across the board, and you've got a scary passer.

What really makes Williams' arm special is the elasticity in his throwing motion. Williams' upper half is incredibly flexible, and he generates a ton of torque seemingly out of nowhere. Whether the pocket is cluttered or Williams is on the move, he's always able to get the ball out cleanly with the same kind of velocity and control he would get under normal circumstances.

Williams is, of course, a unique playmaker. He loves to hang onto the ball, sometimes to his detriment, and hunt for the big play. While normally a sticky proposition for young quarterbacks, the consistency at which Williams delivers in those moments is astounding. He finds unique angles and is always willing to attack them because of the faith in his arm.

Athletically, Williams crosses the threshold, but may be a smidgen overrated. His initial reactions in the pocket are twitched-up, and he has smooth change of directions. Those skills make him a lethal scrambler. With that said, Williams' burst and speed in the open field is nothing threatening by NFL standards. He can be an efficient scrambler, but not much of a designed run threat.

Areas of improvement for Williams mostly come down to consistency.

Williams is a quality processor, but he sometimes gets in his own way. His affinity for the big play can mean he'll pass up easier opportunities earlier in the down. Additionally, Williams tends to drop back square to the offensive line (which helps him stay on his toes and see). That can disrupt his timing on specific routes because he needs an extra step to gather himself. These are not fatal flaws, but he'll need to improve upon them in the NFL.

Overall, Williams is a fascinating prospect. The arm talent oozes off the film, and he is a special playmaker when things break down. Williams is also more put together as a processor than his playing style suggests, even if he still needs work.

In the NFL, Williams would fit best in a spread-out passing offense that gives him space and enables his playmaking ability, similar to Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray or the aforementioned Josh Allen.

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GRADE: 9.2 (Top-10 Player)

OVERALL RANK: 4

POSITION RANK: QB2

PRO COMPARISON: Kyler Murray

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Written by B/R NFL Scout Derrik Klassen

Visit B/R's NFL Scouting Department hub for scouting reports on all of the top prospects.

The Chicago Bears own the Carolina Panthers' first-round pick in 2024 and have a good shot at earning the No. 1 pick for the second year in a row. In that case, the franchise would face a tough decision on whether to keep Justin Fields or move on from him in favor of one of the top quarterback prospects.

However, an NFL executive told ESPN's Courtney Cronin that the decision shouldn't be tough at all because USC star and 2022 Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams has the skills to be one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL as soon as he enters the league.

"I thought from last year's film, he would be top 10 the day he showed up," the anonymous AFC executive said. When asked if he meant a top 10 draft pick or top 10 quarterback when he gets to the NFL, he said, "The latter."

It's understandable that the executive was enamored by Williams' 2022 tape, as he recorded 4,537 yards, 42 touchdowns and five interceptions. He wasn't as dominant in 2023 as USC struggled down the stretch and finished with a 7-5 record, but he still posted impressive numbers of 3,633 yards, 40 touchdowns and five picks.

Williams and North Carolina's Drake Maye are projected as the top quarterback prospects in a talented 2024 draft class. While Fields has shown flashes of brilliance in his three-year career, he hasn't been able to turn the Bears into a winning franchise. Many believe there are multiple benefits of moving on from Fields at this point.

"Justin Fields is going to have to play out of his mind, because if it's close, the economics are so compelling to take another quarterback to reset the clock," ESPN front office insider Mike Tannenbaum said. "If you could reset the clock on a rookie quarterback alone, Justin Fields would have to be two to three times the player to not take a quarterback because you have to think about all those other players you can add with the savings."

USC head coach Lincoln Riley has no intention of following his quarterback to the NFL in 2024.

Riley responded when asked if an NFL team offers him the chance to coach Caleb Williams next season, per The Athletic's Antonio Morales:

Hell no. No. I'm coaching at SC. Period. I didn't come here for some short-term thing and as long as SC continues to give us the support and the things we need to continue to build this, this was not a two-year rebuild. No. I'm going to be the coach at SC. Period. End of discussion. I'm so committed to this place because I know what it can be. And if that commitment continues to get matched around us, we're going to do what we've got to do in here and make the adjustments, make the tough decisions, push on the good, own the bad, fix the bad. We're in it through all the twists and turns and I wanted to make sure people knew that and the more people we have with that same attitude, the faster this thing's going to get back to normal.

Williams is considered one of the top quarterbacks available in the 2024 draft class alongside the likes of UNC's Drake Maye, and he'll likely be selected in the top 10 and perhaps in the top five.

The 22-year-old has played his entire college career with Riley as his head coach. He started his career at Oklahoma in 2021 and followed Riley to USC ahead of the 2022 campaign. Riley coached the Sooners from 2017-2021.

Williams went on to win the Heisman Trophy last season after completing 66.6 percent of his passes for 4,537 yards and 42 touchdowns against five interceptions, in addition to rushing fro 382 yards and 10 scores.

The NFL hopeful is also in the midst of another solid season, completing 68.6 percent of his passes for 3,633 yards and 30 touchdowns against five interceptions, in addition to rushing for 142 yards and 11 scores.

Despite Williams' best effort, the Trojans finished the season 7-5, mainly because the defense was one of the worst in all of college football.

USC's finish to the campaign resulted in speculation that Riley might follow Williams to the NFL if given the opportunity, but now that he has declared his intention to remain in California, he'll be hoping to improve his squad next year with a new quarterback under center.

While the Lincoln Riley experience at USC has certainly had some success, the program has regressed in his second season at the helm.

And the Trojans hit a new low Saturday following yet another loss, this one to rival UCLA 38-20 at the LA Coliseum. It's the Trojans' (7-5, 5-4 PAC 12) fifth loss in the last six weeks and their lone win came by one point in a 50-49 shootout against Cal.

Riley knows that he has missed the mark over the past few weeks as the program's CFP aspirations have been totally flushed.

"I've clearly not done a good enough job in the second half of the season to get this team ready," Riley said via ESPN's Paolo Uggeti. "I've got to do a much better job."

USC will still go bowling but that wasn't the goal when it entered the season as the No. 6 ranked team in the country with reigning Heisman winner Caleb Williams leading the way.

However, Saturday's game was an amalgamation of all things that were wrong with this USC roster and coaching staff. Defense left plenty to be desired and there were too many sloppy, unforced mistakes.

And as good as Williams is—the front-runner for the No. 1 overall pick in April's NFL draft—it wasn't enough to patch up the deficiencies all season long. Williams had 34 completions for 384 yards to go along with a touchdown and an interception Saturday.

It may very well have been his final game in a Trojan uniform as he decides what to do with his future.

"He came here and took a chance on this place and took a chance on being a part of restarting this program and getting it going," Riley said of Williams. "He's a special player, special competitor, and obviously we'll see what goes on from there."

Regardless of whether Williams returns or not, Riley knows there are a lot more things that need to be fixed in Tinsel Town if he's going to lead the program to another championship.

The recent firing of defensive coordinator Alex Grinch clearly hasn't made an impact. So, now is the time for real self reflection from Riley and the rest of his staff.

"The reality is, you play better and you coach better, then you're not in that many [close games]," Riley said. "It sucks right now. It hurts right now, but I've never been more motivated and had more of a fire in my belly than I do right now."

Saturday night's matchup between Caleb Williams and the USC Trojans and Bo Nix and the No. 6 Oregon Ducks has drawn plenty of interest from NFL scouts.

Sixteen NFL scouts from 13 different teams are in attendance at Autzen Stadium for the game. The Seattle Seahawks sent the most scouts with three people in attendance.

NFL scouts at Autzen Stadium for USC at Oregon:@AtlantaFalcons @ChicagoBears @Browns (x2)@HoustonTexans @chargers @Vikings@Saints @Giants @nyjets @Eagles @Seahawks (x3)@Buccaneers @Titans

— James Crepea (@JamesCrepea) November 11, 2023

With the college football regular season beginning to wind down, it's no surprise scouts are making their way out to see some of the biggest matchups on tap.

Saturday's game between USC and Oregon features two of the best quarterbacks available in the 2024 draft class in Williams and Nix.

Williams is widely expected to be the No. 1 pick in the 2024 draft following a standout career at USC that saw him win the Heisman Trophy last season.

Additionally, Williams is in the Heisman conversation again this season as he entered Saturday's game having completed 69.2 percent of his passes for 2,958 yards and 28 touchdowns against four interceptions, in addition to rushing for 173 yards and 10 scores.

Nix is also considered a top quarterback prospect in the 2024 class, though he isn't considered to be a first-round selection despite two solid seasons at Oregon after beginning his college career at Auburn.

Entering Saturday's game, Nix completed 78.1 percent of his passes for 2,723 yards and 25 touchdowns against two interceptions in nine games, in addition to rushing for 116 yards and five scores.

Some of the more intriguing NFL teams in attendance for Saturday's game include the Atlanta Falcons, Chicago Bears and New York Giants.

The Falcons began the season with 2022 third-round pick Desmond Ridder as their starting quarterback, but they benched the 24-year-old in Week 9 in favor of Taylor Heinicke. With Ridder not showing much promise as a potential franchise quarterback, it's no surprise the Falcons might be scouting his potential replacement.

The Bears, meanwhile, have relied on 2021 first-round pick Justin Fields under center since his rookie year. While he has shown improvement this season, Chicago continues to struggle and considering they have two first-round picks in 2024, the team will surely consider all of its options.

The Giants have also been rumored to be in the quarterback market despite giving Daniel Jones a four-year, $160 million extension in March.

Jones, who is out for the season with a torn ACL, showed little promise prior to going down with the injury, and New York is now 2-7 on the season and could land a top pick in the 2024 draft with the opportunity to select a better signal-caller.