Heisman Winners Williams, Daniels Hold Court At NFL Combine

Quarterbacks Jayden Daniels and Caleb Williams, the 2023 and 2022 Heisman Trophy winners, are taking center stage this weekend at the 2024 NFL Combine in Indianapolis.

USC’s Williams has been considered the likely No. 1 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft since before he lifted the 2022 Heisman while Daniels is considered among the top QBs available in the draft and a likely top 10 pick, if not higher. 

This will be the 12th time two Heisman winners will be drafted in the same year and the first time since Baker Mayfield (first) and Lamar Jackson (32nd) were taken in the first round in 2018.

The last time two Heisman winners were taken in the top 10 in the same year was in 2015 when Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota were selected first and second overall.

Also attracting a lot of attention among quarterbacks are 2023 Heisman Trophy finalists Michael Penix Jr. of Washington and Bo Nix of Oregon as well as North Carolina’s Drake Maye and Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy, who finished 10th in the 2022 and 2023 Heisman balloting, respectively. 

Assuming Williams and Daniels go as high as predicted, they’ll join some stellar company in the Heisman fraternity.

Of the 86 Heisman winners eligible for drafting, 60 have been selected in the first round while 24 of them were taken with the first overall pick and 41 within the first five selections.

Bryce Young, the 2021 Heisman winner out of Alabama, was taken first by Carolina in the 2023 NFL Draft, becoming the fourth Heisman winner to go first overall in the last five years. 

Williams and Daniels are among more than 300 draft eligible players invited to the NFL Combine, where NFL teams typically get their first close looks at their prospective 2024 NFL draft picks.

Neither Williams nor Daniels will work out at the combine, opting instead to do so at their respective schools Pro Days. USC’s Pro Day is scheduled for March 20 while LSU’s is set for March 27.

Both, however, addressed the media on Friday (March 1).

Watch Williams’ and Daniels’ media sessions below.