Why USC football absolutely needs to bring in Caleb Williams

USC football has a quarterback budding with great potential in Jaxson Dart on the roster for next year, but they totally need to take advantage of Caleb Williams hitting the transfer portal.

While Dart showed us many flashes of greatness last season for the Trojans, he doesn't quite have the ceiling that Williams put on display. Williams was the much better quarterback.

Below is a numbers breakdown. Bolded are Williams' statistics from his seven starts this year, as well as the Red River game he took over when Spencer Rattler was benched for him. On the right are Dart's numbers in the six games he either started, replaced an injured Kedon Slovis for, or participated in a two-QB system for USC this year.

65.2 completion percentage----61.9 completion percentage

9.02 passing yards per attempt----7.16 passing yards per attempt

21 passing TDs (26 total TDs)----9 passing TDs (11 total TDs)

4 interceptions----5 interceptions

5.1 rushing yards per attempt----2 rushing yards per attempt

There's a lot to love about Dart's raw ability and athleticism, but Williams has already arrived.

Caleb Williams has already proven he can master USC football Head Coach Lincoln Riley's offense.

While Caleb Williams wasn't perfect this past season, he was still a Heisman contender for much of the season, and at times the number one candidate in the race despite not even starting the season for the first five games. He fits so well in Riley's system that he was even willing to walk-on for him back in the recruiting process. Riley's transition to the USC football program would be expedited if he could have one of his own quarterbacks that he recruited, signed, and exceled with.

While Dart was certainly a great recruit himself, and awarded for being the best high school player in the country in 2020, he wasn't the prospect Williams was.

Dart was a four-star recruit (all recruiting ratings and rankings in this article are in reference to 247Sports), but Williams was a five-star recruit. Dart was a top 10 QB recruit in the 2021 class, but Williams was a top two QB recruit in the 2021 class. While Dart was the overall No. 69 player in the country, Williams was the No. 7 overall recruit.

Dart is certainly a guy who fits in Riley's system, but Williams has already worked well in it, and shown flashes that suggest he can perfect it. While we will succeed at the quarterback position next year whether it's Williams, Dart, or Miller Moss as the signal-caller, Williams gives us the best chance to help Riley revive this program at the quickest pace.