It's Getting Harder For Incoming Players To Push Back Against The Draft

Caleb Williams considered it. Ultimately, he didn't do it.

The real question moving forward is whether any player will push back against the sacred sorting-hat process known as the NFL draft.

Two quarterbacks have done it since 1983: John Elway and, 21 years later, Eli Manning. Both happened before the rise of social media and the unprecedented popularity of the draft, which has found another level (or two) since the NFL turned it into a traveling road show.

Williams, based on Seth Wickersham's reporting, didn’t want to play for the Bears. Williams and his father, Carl, considered all options. Ultimately, Caleb decided not to expose Carl to the criticism that would have come from making a public power play against the Bears.

Caleb would have taken more than his fair share of heat, too. He's already getting dragged by some in the media based on the fact that merely thinking about whether to refuse to play for the Bears came to light. If Williams had opted to buck the system, fans and media would have made him their new punching bag.

At this point, can anyone pull it off? The next test cause could be Arch Manning, given that his Uncle Eli pulled it off 21 years ago. First, Arch has to emerge as the top prospect in his draft class, whenever that may be. Second, a team for which he doesn't want to play needs to have dibs on him. Third, Arch needs to be willing to say no — either on his own or under the cover of Uncle Eli or Uncle Peyton or his grandfather, Archie, or some combination of the three.

If the various planets line up perfectly, what will Arch do? Accept his fate with a dysfunctional team (like Archie did) or exert his leverage (like Eli did)? If Arch submits to the sorting hat, there might not ever be another who dares to resist the the NFL's primary offseason tentpole — and invites widespread criticism from the many who have been brainwashed into thinking that having a promising career derailed by a gang that couldn't draft-and-develop straight is somehow "an honor and a privilege."