Tom Hauck/Getty ImagesPlaymaking might be the funniest category to talk about between these two categories. It's tragic for Maye, really.
Maye is an awesome playmaker. He is aggressive, creative and has a little bit of Josh Allen brain. It's hard to watch his left-handed touchdown versus Pitt or the fourth-down conversion against Duke where he's being dragged into the dirt and not appreciate his irrational confidence. If Maye's playmaking were rated on a scale of 1-100, he'd firmly be in the 90s.
Williams is a 100 on that scale, though. Maybe a 105. He's just different.
Williams makes three or four plays a game that don't look like anyone but Mahomes. That's a lofty and unfair comparison overall, but your brain can't help but go there in those moments.
Williams' creativity extends to every aspect of his game. Within the pocket, Williams finds unique throwing lanes and arm angles. The same can be said for his work outside the pocket. Williams attempted a handful of skyhook passes on the run this year like a miniature Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in pads.
Even when the funky arm angles aren't necessary, Williams' creativity is apparent. He is willing to move around in ways and attempt throws most quarterbacks wouldn't dare. It all feels so outlandish and imprecise at first glance, but the more you see Williams work his magic, the more you feel there's a method to it.
Williams sees the game faster and clearer than most everyone else when the bullets are flying, and he has the talent to capitalize on even his most ambitious impulses. There's also data to support Williams' ability to figure it out on the fly.
Per my own charting at Reception Perception, 7.4 percent of Williams' sampled pass attempts were unchartable routes. They were scramble drills, more or less. That's an exceptionally high number (more of a product of USC's offense than Williams' faults, to be clear), yet Williams was accurate on 69.4 percent of those attempts. Executing at a nearly 70 percent clip on broken plays with that kind of volume is just silly.
Williams is lights-out in the red zone, too. He had plenty of in-structure throws within the red zone, but he also had opportunities to make something out of nothing in the most constricted area of the field. On 65 charted red-zone attempts, Williams was accurate on 73.9 percent of them, which was the highest mark among the consensus top-four quarterbacks by more than 8 percentage points.
And that's just as a passer. Go watch Williams' performance versus Arizona State this year if you need proof of his ability to make something happen with his legs in the red zone.
Williams truly has an answer for everything. Yes, some of his creative decisions go horribly wrong, but that's the price of admission.
Mahomes and Allen are the same way. So was Brett Favre. Andrew Luck and Matthew Stafford, too. That's just how it goes with guys who are wired to win the game at any cost and have the tools to make it possible.
Williams can be that caliber of playmaker.
Advantage: Williams
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