Williams’ USC teammate says he’d be top pick

INDIANAPOLIS — NFL rules say Heisman Trophywinning quarterback Caleb Williams isn’t ready for the draft, but his top receiver disagrees.

Football players must be three seasons removed from high school to enter the draft, so Williams will be headed back to USC this fall after he won the Heisman Trophy as a sophomore. He is considered the early favorite to be the No. 1 pick in the 2024 draft.

“I would say he would be the No. 1 pick this year,” projected first-round receiver Jordan Addison said at the NFL Scouting Combine. “That’s how ready he is.”

Addison is obviously biased toward his USC teammate, but he also knows NFL quarterbacking after he spent the first two seasons of his career catching passes at Pittsburgh from Kenny Pickett — the only quarterback drafted in the first round in 2022 (Steelers).

Williams isn’t competing against this class of Alabama’s Bryce Young, Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud, Florida’s Anthony Richardson and Kentucky’s Will Levis, but he should have a challenger next year in North Carolina’s Drake Maye.

➤ If there is a fifth firstround quarterback selected, it likely will be Tennessee’s Hendon Hooker.

Hooker threw for 3,135 yards and 27 touchdowns with just two interceptions, and he rushed for 430 yards and five touchdowns.

The knocks against him are three-fold: He tore his ACL in November. He just turned 25 years old — three or four years older than most of his peers. And Tennessee runs a simplified one-read passing attack.

“It’s not my fault that my first read was always open,” Hooker said, crediting dynamic receivers.

Hooker said he expects to be cleared to throw from his feet next week.

“How fast I’m recovering, I really need to slow myself down some,” he said, “but I’m excited to get back to a better me, much better than what I’ve been playing.”

➤ Georgia’s two-time national championship-winning quarterback Stetson Bennett IV was arrested in January in Dallas on charges of public intoxication. He is considered a late-round draft projection.

“It was a mistake that everybody is aware of,” Bennett said. “I understand why that can’t happen. I’ve talked to coaches about it, talked to coaches. Apologized to my family, that’s who I felt worst about. Felt like I let them down. I’ve got an obligation as the Fourth — can’t do that if your last name is Bennett.”