Caleb Williams sparked a lot of chatter with his lack of participation at the NFL Draft Combine. The expected No. 1 overall pick is only in Indianapolis to meet with teams.
He is not throwing. He is not participating in any of the on-field drills.
In addition to not working out, Williams is believed to be the first attendee in history to decline medical exams. The former Heisman Trophy winner also did not sign off to have his medical records shared with all 32 NFL organizations.
Despite the logic behind Williams’ decision, it has somehow raised red flags for some people. That is especially true for a subset of the media that seeks any reason to create “controversy.” They question if he has something to hide and wonder why he is being so secretive.
His reason for withholding medical information and declining exams is two-fold.
First and foremost, draft prospects have complained about the medical portion of the NFL Combine for years. It is lengthy and redundant. All of the different doctors from all of the different teams perform essentially the same exam and ask the same questions, which makes the entire process a waste of time and energy.
Secondly, Caleb Williams will be the No. 1 or No. 2 overall pick. There is no need for him to participate in the exact same examination process or provide his medical information to every single team when the vast majority of them will not be in a position to draft him.
He explained his straightforward reasoning while speaking to the media on Friday morning and laughed off the criticism.
Williams is a more-than-willing participant in medical examinations if a team, like the Washington Commanders or Chicago Bears, ask him to go through the evaluation process on his team-specific interview. That is no problem because there are no secrets and he is in great health. Otherwise, if a team is not in a position to call his name, what’s the point?
The conversation would be different if there were questions surrounding Williams’ health but there are not. The same could be said if Williams was going to be drafted outside of the top-five but he will not.
At the end of the day, the Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback has all of the leverage in this situation. He is not going to put himself through the ringer for no reason. Caleb Williams is going through the process with purpose at the forefront.