Caleb Williams, the starting quarterback for the USC Trojans, is likely to be a top pick in the 2023 NFL draft.

Before striking it rich in the NFL, the Oklahoma transfer is already cashing in on his name, image and likeness.

Los Angeles Times USC beat writer Ryan Kartje joined Kelvin Washington on "LA Times Today" to talk about the hype around Williams' USC career.  

Kartje explained that it's been a while since USC has had a quarterback that fans can be excited about. 

"With just another year at the college level, I think we'll see him advance quite a bit. And he's already number three in terms of Heisman odds heading into the season. So, a lot of buzz just following him. He also just has this sort of aura about him, I think, that's a little different than USC has had at that position in a long time and kind of harkens back to those days when the USC quarterback was really kind of a cornerstone of college football."

Williams followed his former coach at Oklahoma, Lincoln Riley, to USC for this school year. But, as Kartje explained, loyalty to Riley isn't the only reason Williams transferred.

"[Caleb's father] Carl Williams has always said 'NFL before NIL.' They're focused on getting him as far up in the NFL draft as possible. And if you're talking about a number one pick when he does come out, that guaranteed contract is significantly more than he would earn NIL deals... So they are laser focused on NFL, but certainly in the process now has been a big deal just for Caleb and just being able to sort of capitalize on being in LA."

Since the NCAA changed its rules and allowed student athletes to capitalize on their names, images, and likenesses, Williams has scored major lucrative deals. 

"They've been very quiet on the nature of the deals and how much money we're talking about upfront," said Kartje. "I do know that some of them are short-term, a couple of years. A couple more, specifically with the real estate investment fund that he teamed up with, that's a ten-year deal. So that's a long-term investment. I have reason to believe that these deals extend into the seven figures, maybe multiple seven figures. It's certainly a different era that we've entered into where a quarterback who has only played seven games at the college level is suddenly richer than a backup quarterback in the NFL."

Kartje also previewed USC's final season in the PAC-12 before it moves over to the Big 10 in 2023. 

Click the arrow above to watch the full interview. 

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