Caleb Williams is the most polarizing player in the upcoming NFL Draft. There are a lot of people who love him and a lot of people who hate him.
On one end, the 2022 Heisman Trophy winner is considered to be a future Hall of Famer. On the other end, he is considered an overhyped crybaby with character issues. Most people with a brain lean closer to the former than the latter.
Merri Hoge is somewhere in between. The jury is still out because he has only watched six games over two seasons. However, the former NFL running back and ESPN analyst knows one thing for certain.
Hoge does not believe that Caleb Williams is on the same level as Patrick Mahomes. That has been a recent topic of discussion because the former previously said that he possesses all of the same abilities as the latter.
Regardless of what Williams thinks of himself, Hoge does he think that the former USC quarterback will ever reach that level. The 59-year-old analyst even went so far as to say that Caleb Williams is “not special.”
He’s not something unique like a Patrick Mahomes, and I hope the Bears don’t think, ‘Let’s try to make up for our mistake when we passed up Patrick Mahomes and go get the [next] Patrick Mahomes. This kid is not Patrick Mahomes. He ain’t even remotely close to that.
— Merril Hoge, via NBC Chicago
If that does not make his opinion clear, Hoge continued on to say that the Bears would be making a big mistake if they chose to move on from Justin Fields. Chicago is currently expected to do exactly that.
Merril Hoge is entitled to his opinion, and his criticism is not outlandish. We may never see another player like Mahomes. It is hard to say that anyone will ever live up to a quarterback with two Super Bowl rings at only 28 years old. That’s fine!
But to make such a strong claim after watching just six games of a three-year career that included a Heisman-winning season seems like a significant rush to judgement. Hoge has yet to watch just under two thirds of Caleb Williams’ college career.