Caleb Williams, widely predicted to be the No. 1 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, is also believed to be the first prospect to ever attend the NFL Combine without partaking in medical examinations. But the USC product downplayed the decision Friday, telling reporters any team that hosts him for a private predraft visit will have the opportunity to assess him.
"For the medical stuff, I'll be doing the medical stuff, just not here in Indy," Williams said of his unprecedented move. "I'll be doing it at the team interviews. You know, not 32 teams can draft me. There's only one of me. So the teams that I go to for my visit, those teams will have the medical, and that'll be it."
Typically, medical exams are considered one of the most essential pieces of the combine, per CBS Sports Lead NFL Insider Jonathan Jones, but the league has "for years gotten complaints from draft prospects about the length of time for medical examinations, as well as the redundancy of having doctors from all teams examine the same player and ask the same (or similar) questions."
In attending the combine, where he'll also forgo all on-field testing, Williams also declined to share his medical records with all 32 teams, as Jones reported, preferring to reserve that information for whichever teams zero in on him ahead of the draft.
