Last year did no go as planned for Caleb Williams and USC football, to say the least. Legitimate College Playoff aspirations melted into despair as the program suffered extreme humiliation in its final season in the Pac-12. The 2022 Heisman Trophy winner was not even enough to push the Trojans into the top tier of the conference, as they finished just 5-4 and 8-5 overall.

Gigantic team disappointment tends to breed individual skepticism as well. Questions have surfaced regarding Williams' leadership and character, which could affect how he is perceived from executives and coaches heading into the 2024 NFL Draft. USC head coach Lincoln Riley, who first met the quarterback prospect when he was still with the Oklahoma Sooners, shared a brief story that illustrates Williams' mentality.

“The thing I've always appreciated about him is he's always thinking abut the next step and it's always the big picture,” Riley told The Pat McAfee Show on Tuesday. “At Oklahoma there was a time in the beginning where we weren't going to take him and he said, ‘well, fine coach I'll just walk on.'”

Will grit help former USC football star Caleb Williams succeed again? 

Williams leaped over then-Sooners starting quarterback Spencer Rattler (also in draft class) on the depth chart in 2021 as a true freshman and led the program to an 11-win season. He then followed Riley to USC football where he further showcased his supreme blend of talent, athleticism, creativity and composure.

Those traits shined brightly in a revitalizing 2022 campaign but were more obscured in 2023. Caleb Williams still threw for 3,633 passing yards and 30 touchdowns to five interceptions while posting a career-high 68.6 completion percentage and rushing for an additional 11 scores. His high ceiling currently has him projected as the No. 1 overall pick in April's NFL Draft, which would send him to the Chicago Bears.

Some fans will continue to express concerns about Williams' long-term viability, but as Lincoln Riley said, he is always focused on “the big picture.” The level of resilience that helped him succeed in Norman and thrive in Los Angeles must be amplified if he is going to attain similar accolades in the unforgiving NFL.