USC Football QB Caleb Williams may be the best red zone QB in America
By Evan Desai
USC Football QB Caleb Williams might be the best quarterback in America. He's averaging 10.2 adjusted yards per pass attempt, while posting a 24:1 TD:INT ratio. He's even added three rushing touchdowns to that, and 249 rushing yards. He's got a legit shot at being one of the four Heisman finalists who travel to New York City, and he even has a chance at the award.
One area of the field, however, where he definitely may be the best at is the red zone. According to PFF, Williams has 18 red-zone pass touchdowns, which is the most in the Power 5. This is a great stat for anyone, but in particular a USC quarterback. That's because USC is a team that emphasizes the run quite a bit. They're very good at it. They are 14th in America with 5.54 yards per rush attempt.
When the field shrinks, Lincoln Riley's playbook shrinks. Interestingly, offenses from the Air Raid tree often have had more trouble in the red zone than they usually do. It goes to show that a QB in Riley's system wouldn't be expected to lead the country in this stat, and again, especially on a team that's so effective running the football. Heck, RB1 Travis Dye has eight rushing touchdowns through eight games.
For Williams to still be this effective in the red zone speaks volumes about him as a QB, and most importantly he as a QB when he's needed most. Of course, Williams having 24 touchdowns passing is great. That's the third-highest number in college football. Capitalizing in the red zone, however, may mean even more than the total amount of times he finds the end zone.
USC Football QB Caleb Williams was particularly sharp in the red zone this past week.
That's because Caleb Williams completed seven of 10 passes from the red zone on Saturday, connecting for 32 yards on those ten passes for USC Football, and four of them resulting in touchdowns. Keep in mind that Williams did this without his first two receivers and his No. 1 O-lineman (Andrew Vorhees).
Being this great in the red zone against Arizona goes to show that Williams not only can be an elite passer within 20 yards, but it also goes to show that he can do it even when adversity is hitting in the type of personnel around him. USC is in fantastic hands in the red zone as long as Williams is under center.