2 min read • March 01, 2024
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Projected No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams has made the unprecedented move of refusing to undergo the entire medical process at the NFL Combine.
Instead, the former USC dual-threat passer will undergo physical examination on a team-by-team basis depending on who he chooses to meet with.
As Dr. David Chao detailed below on this week’s Sports Injury Central podcast, no player had truly skipped the official medical process prior to Williams.
Even when John Elway or Eli Manning refused to go to certain teams, they never refused to share their medical information with all teams.
Instead of withholding his medical information, Williams could have opted to just be examined by one physician and have the rest of the medical staffs observe that examination so that all findings are shared.
In fact, it's harder to do individual medical exams with teams as it takes several hours and the player would have to repeat the exams with each team he meets with.
Williams reportedly met with the Chicago Bears, Washington Commanders and New England Patriots, the holders of the top three picks in the upcoming draft.
The 22-year-old quarterback did not miss a game in his three-year college career although he dealt with two small injuries of note.
Williams played through a right pinky finger injury for several games last season, with the only mention of the injury coming during an Oct. 20 press conference with head coach Lincoln Riley.
“He got it hit. I can’t remember; it’s been a few games ago. It’s just been a little bit sore, kind of tender, but it hasn’t affected him, hasn’t affected (his) play. So kinda more of a nagging nuisance but not a hindrance to play,” Riley told reporters the week after Williams had a 3-interception performance against Notre Dame.
Despite Riley mentioning the finger injury, our panel of doctors do not see the pinky finger injury as a big factor in that performance. As we previously detailed when Joe Burrow dislocated his pinky finger during the 2022 season, many quarterbacks do not include the pinky finger when throwing the ball.
Williams’ only other injury of note during his college career was a hamstring strain he played through during the 2022 Pac-12 championship loss against Utah.
He stayed in the game despite suffering the injury in the first quarter, finishing with 363 passing yards, 3 touchdowns and 12 rushes for 21 yards.
Ahead of Super Bowl LVII, Williams joined First Take on FS1 to discuss his mentality playing through the injury.
After spending his freshman season at Oklahoma, the five-star recruit followed Lincoln Riley to USC ahead of the 2022 season.
In 2021 with the Sooners, Williams passed for 1,912 yards with 21 touchdowns, 4 interceptions and a 64.5% completion rate.
He won the Heisman trophy in 2022 with 4,537 passing yards, 42 touchdowns, 5 interceptions and a 66.6% completion rate.
In 12 games last season, Williams had 3,633 passing yards, 30 touchdowns and 5 interceptions. He skipped the Holiday Bowl against Louisville to prepare for the NFL Draft.
Williams will not throw at the combine, but will presumably participate in the other drills.
He will throw at USC’s Pro Day on March 20.
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In an unprecedented move, potential #1 overall pick, Caleb Williams is attending the NFL Combine without doing medical examinations with teams. @ProFootballDoc explained why the medical exams are the MOST important part of the combine. sicscore.com/nfl/updates/us…
Caleb Williams x Mamba Mentality — @CALEBcsw on how he was able to keep going despite a hamstring injury in USC's Pac12 Championship Game loss to Utah:
