Caleb Williams is expected to be a top pick in the 2024 NFL draft. The Commanders, who draft second, need a quarterback. Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury coached Williams at USC last season.
Kingsbury did a deft job of avoiding a question about Williams during his introductory news conference Thursday.
“He’s a great kid. There’s no doubt,” Kingsbury said, via video from NBC4 Sports. “Just getting to watch Lincoln [Riley] from afar and observe him and how he coaches and how he schemes things up and his processes was huge, and then just being around the younger players.”
Kingsbury was asked what he looks for in a quarterback and joked, “The Chiefs quarterback.”
Kingsbury coached Patrick Mahomes at Texas Tech.
“No. I do think the game as you can see. . . . You watch those guys at the end like when the money is on the table, you’ve got to be able to make some plays with your feet, move around enough to escape a bad play,” Kingsbury said. “It doesn’t mean you’ve got to run like Lamar [Jackson] or Kyler Murray. But you better be able to move a little bit and buy yourself some time because the D-line, the rush as a defense these days is so good. And then the intangibles, you want that player to be hardest worker on your team. You want him to lead those guys. Each and every day when he shows up in the building you want him to lift the building up. That’s why those guys make the type of money they do.”
The Commanders are expected to draft a quarterback that Kingsbury will get to develop like he did with Johnny Manziel, Baker Mayfield, Mahomes, Murray and Williams.
“First off, you’ve got to have talented players to work with. There’s no doubt,” Kingsbury said. “I’ve been fortunate to be around some really good players, good people. I just try to figure out what makes them tick. Everybody’s different. Everybody learns different. Everybody processes differently. Likes different plays. Sees the game differently. So, I really try to get to the bottom of who they are as a person and who they are as a player and build it around them.”