Heisman Trophy watch 2022: Top 5 candidates after Week 1

2022 Heisman Trophy contender No. 3: Caleb Williams, QB USC

Last season, Caleb Williams emerged as a Heisman contender mid-way through the year after he took over the starting job at Oklahoma for Spencer Rattler. But the Sooners weren’t good enough for him to get there and he didn’t have enough time.

Yet, we saw enough to know that Williams was going to be a force as a college football quarterback. He transferred to USC, following former head coach Lincoln Riley, and was followed by a bunch of talented transfers including Jordan Addison, arguably the best wideout in the country.

There were questions about how it would gel. Mario Williams came from Oklahoma, so there was some familiarity but the other pieces were all new. Yet, Caleb Williams didn’t have any issues this weekend, albeit in a win over Rice.

The Trojans dominated and while Williams only threw the ball 22 times, he completed 19 of those passes for 249 yards and three touchdowns. That’s an impressive 11.3 yards per attempt.

Last season, he averaged 9.1 yards per attempt, so Williams is good at pushing the ball down the field. His 21-4 touchdown-to-interception ratio is also a sign of things to come.

Williams is going to lead one of the best offenses in the country and if he can lead the Trojans to a Pac-12 title and a playoff berth, a Heisman Trophy for Caleb seems totally reasonable. Stanford is up next though and the Cardinal have been a thorn in the side of USC.

We’ll see if that continues under Riley and Caleb Williams.