Caleb Williams, Drake Maye Will Be Talk of Their Bowls Without Taking Field

The North Carolina and USC football teams will both be taking the field for bowl games on Wednesday, but their star quarterbacks won't be.

Drake Maye and Caleb Williams, universally considered two of the top 2024 NFL Draft prospects, have both opted out of their teams' respective bowl games. The Tar Heels will be without Maye against West Virginia in the Duke's Mayo Bowl, while the Trojans face off against No. 15 Louisville in the Holiday Bowl down their Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback.

Conner Harrell will start for UNC at 4:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday in Charlotte. The Trojans are turning to Miller Moss, whose first college start for the Trojans in Williams' absence comes at 7 p.m. ET in San Diego.

Even though they won't be throwing passes on Wednesday, here's what else football fans should know about each team's standout signal-caller.

Why Aren't Maye, Williams Playing in Bowl Games?

Neither North Carolina (8-4) nor USC (7-5) lived up to their 2023 expectations.

The Trojans entered the season ranked No. 6 in the Associated Press rankings and even reached as high as No. 5. But a team with College Football Playoff goals lost five of its last six games to finish sixth in the Pac-12. UNC, meanwhile, also started the campaign ranked and at one point rounded out the top 10. Though in similar fashion to the Trojans, the Tar Heels lost four of their last six games—spoiling any ACC title aspirations in the process—during a disappointing second half of the season.

And after these respective collapses, Maye and Williams had to prioritize their football futures rather than playing in middle-of-the-road bowl games.

USC head coach Lincoln Riley announced on December 4 that Williams would not play in the Holiday Bowl. The junior has yet to publicly declare for the NFL Draft, though he said last month it would be unlikely for him to skip the bowl game and then return for another college season. A few days after Williams' collegiate career likely came to an end, Maye made his future a little more clear. The Tar Heels' starter announced on X, formerly Twitter, that he was opting out of the bowl game and entering the draft.

"Thank you, coach [Mack] Brown, for the opportunity to live out my dream of playing quarterback in Carolina Blue," Maye said in the post on December 11. "To the rest of the coaching staff and support staff, thank you for the countless hours of helping me along the way. Tar Heel Nation, the best fans out there. You made my time at UNC truly special, thank y'all."

Maye, Williams Final College Stats

Without a bowl game to tack on any additional statistics, Williams finishes his junior season with 3,633 passing yards and 41 total touchdowns. If he foregoes his senior season as expected, the 6-foot-1, 215-pound QB will finish his collegiate career with 10,082 passing yards, 93 passing touchdowns, and 27 rushing touchdowns across three seasons at Oklahoma and USC.

Fifty-two of those scores occurred during last year's Heisman-winning season.

Maye, meanwhile, threw for 3,608 yards and 24 scores in 2023 to go along with 449 yards and nine touchdowns on the ground. The redshirt sophomore wrapped up his time at UNC with 8,018 passing yards and 79 touchdowns over three seasons.

Williams, Maye NFL Draft Projections

Williams was widely seen as the top 2024 draft prospect after his surreal sophomore season a year ago. And that hasn't changed since.

ESPN NFL Draft guru Mel Kiper Jr. is among the many experts to cite Williams as the top prospect in next year's draft. The USC QB also sits atop Pro Football Focus' big board and is the No. 2 overall prospect, behind Ohio State wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr., according to The Athletic. Multiple CBS Sports analysts also project Williams to be taken with the No. 1 overall pick.

In a recent mock draft for USA Today, Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz had the Chicago Bears (via the Carolina Panthers) taking Williams with the top selection, citing how the QB "boasts a singular combination of elite arm strength, creativity and accuracy to every level of the field."

Maye goes second in that USA Today mock and several CBS Sports projections. Kiper and Pro Football Focus both list the 6-foot-4, 230-pounder as the No. 3 overall prospect and No. 2 QB.

"Maye is a pure pocket passer with mobility and the full franchise quarterback skill set," Chris Trapasso wrote in a recent CBS Sports mock draft.

And speaking of where these top prospects may land, the Bears currently hold the No. 1 pick in the 2024 since they own the Panthers' first-round pick. Chicago finished with the top selection last year but opted to trade it to Carolina, who selected Bryce Young, for a haul of picks and wide receiver D.J. Moore. After the Bears, the Arizona Cardinals, Washington Commanders, New England Patriots, and New York Giants currently own picks Nos. 2-5.