Caleb Williams, USC offensive line star in NIL deal for Postmates
Caleb Williams has made sure to take care of his offensive line.
When he won the Heisman Trophy in New York City last year, his entire offensive line was with him. And when the USC quarterback threw the first pitch at a Dodgers game this summer, he made sure to bring his offensive line with him.
On Tuesday, Williams launched a new partnership with Postmates. The reigning Heisman winner had his five starting offensive linemen around him, participating in the campaign with the food delivery service.
In a video released on Instagram, the quarterback gathers with the line to discuss their Postmates order. With the five linemen on a knee, Williams says “bring it in, bring it in” before asking each player what they want.
Together they order 18 burritos. But using Postmates, they don’t have to pay for fees because of the brand’s student discount which runs through Dec. 31. It’s a line repeated multiple times throughout the advertisement.
Dubbed “Postmates State” the motto is “School of No Fees.” This isn’t the food delivery service’s first NIL deal promoting the discount. UCLA quarterback Chase Griffin promoted the campaign last month.
USC offensive linemen Jarrett Kingston (guard), Jonah Monheim (tackle), Justin Dedich (center), Michael Tarquin (tackle) and Emmanuel Pregnon (guard) all participated in the campaign next to Williams.
USC hits rough patch in Year 2
The Postmates NIL deal comes after the Trojans dropped to 6-2 on the season, losing in the final seconds on Saturday night to Utah. Still expected to be the No. 1 pick in this spring’s NFL draft, Williams has struggled in the past three weeks. He’s thrown more interceptions (three) than touchdown passes (two) while getting sacked 13 times.
In Saturday’s loss to the Utes — the third in two seasons — Williams failed to throw a touchdown pass for the first time at USC. The quarterback was still productive, finishing 24 of 34 for 256 yards and a rushing touchdown.
The Trojans continue to fall in the AP poll, now out of the College Football Playoff picture.
“We don’t come in every single week talking about winning a national championship, going to playoffs, and I don’t know where that narrative starts,” USC head coach Lincoln Riley said following the Utah loss. “You come in every single week, try and fight your tail off to go play well and win a ballgame. It’s a strain every week to do it, and it’s a fight every week to do it. We’ve won a hell of a lot more here than we’ve lost.
“Are we satisfied at all sitting here at 6-2? Of course, we’re not. I mean, as much as it hurts anybody on the outside, I promise you it hurts us 10 times more.”
Caleb Williams continues to build NIL brand
Williams has inked notable NIL agreements with Athletic Brewing Company, Fanatics, Neutrogena, AT&T, Beats by Dre, PlayStation, United Airlines and AC+ION Water. Since December, his social media has soared to more than 350,000 followers. The quarterback has embraced his love for fashion, too. He wore a Gucci suit to the Heisman ceremony. Plus, Williams was in the Hugo Boss show during his spring break in March.
The USC quarterback has been all over national television this fall off the field. He’s in a season-long partnership with Dr Pepper, starring as the leading face of Fansville. Williams is in commercials for Wendy’s with former USC quarterback Matt Leinart. And he’s starring in Nissan’s Heisman House ads this fall, too.
While he’s succeeding in NIL, he’s also used his resources and dollars to establish the Caleb Cares Foundation, which focuses on anti-bullying, youth empowerment and mental health awareness.
His $2.7 million On3 NIL Valuation ranks No. 3 in college football. Caleb Williams sits at No. 5 in the On3 NIL 100, the first of its kind and defacto NIL ranking of the top 100 high school and college athletes ranked by their On3 NIL Valuation.
The On3 NIL Valuation is the industry’s leading index that sets the standard market NIL value for high school and college athletes. A proprietary algorithm, the On3 NIL Valuation calculates an athlete’s NIL value using dynamic data points targeting three primary categories: performance, influence and exposure.