Diego Pavia watches Caleb Williams highlights before bed.
That detail, tucked into a Senior Bowl interview this week, reveals how the Vanderbilt quarterback is approaching his NFL transition. Pavia mentioned Williams’ fourth-down throw against the Rams, the one that traveled 51.2 yards through the air from 26.5 yards behind the line of scrimmage, and put it in rare company.
“That 4th down throw is like, I don’t know, maybe Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen make that,” Pavia told PFSN’s Ian Cummings at the Senior Bowl. “He’s got that mindset of like no one can touch me on this field. Like I’m the best player every time I step on the field. [Williams] highlights I’ll watch going to sleep, just trying to study his game”.
Then Pavia made clear he’s not just admiring from afar.
“That’s what I like to think in my head is no one’s better than me,” he said. “I’m gonna tilt the field my way just by my play and my preparation, and just how I approach the game.”
What Diego Pavia Sees in Caleb Williams’ Film
The Williams throw Pavia referenced had a 17.8% completion probability, per Next Gen Stats. It was the longest completed pass by air distance in the red zone since at least 2016. Bears coach Ben Johnson called it “ridiculous.”
But Pavia zeroed in on something beyond the physical. Williams is 6-foot-1, and Pavia described him as “freaky athletic.” Yet the quality Pavia kept returning to was psychological: the belief that you can impose your will regardless of circumstances.
It’s a notable study choice for a quarterback fighting perception issues. Pavia measured at 5-foot-9 7/8 at the Senior Bowl, two-plus inches shorter than his Vanderbilt bio claimed. He’s 23, older than most draft prospects. The personality that helped him transform Vanderbilt into a 10-win program has also generated skepticism about his fit as an NFL face of the franchise.
Watching Williams work through pressure, evade the rush, and manufacture plays from nothing gives Pavia a template that doesn’t require prototype size. Williams’ seven fourth-quarter comebacks this season (including playoffs) came from processing, improvisation, and an unshakable belief he’d find a way.
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Pavia posted similar numbers in his own right. His 94.8 QB Impact Score ranked first nationally in PFSN’s metrics, with a 71.2% completion rate (eighth) and 9.1 net yards per attempt (fourth). He converted 50.9% of third and fourth down attempts, seventh in the country.
The mental framework Pavia described is exactly what NFL evaluators struggle to measure. Can a quarterback maintain elite confidence when the pocket collapses, when the play breaks down, when the conventional option disappears?
Williams’ answer has been emphatic. His throw to Cole Kmet with 27 seconds left against the Rams came with three defenders closing and his back to the line of scrimmage. Kmet said it “felt like a pretty easy pitch-and-catch,” which captures the absurdity of what Williams made look routine.
Pavia wants that same operating system. The JUCO-to-New Mexico State-to-Vanderbilt journey gave him plenty of reps performing under doubt. He upset No. 1 Alabama in 2024. He won SEC Offensive Player of the Year in 2025. He did it at programs that weren’t supposed to contend.
“Shoot, maybe we just got that much dog in us,” Pavia said of Vanderbilt’s run.
That phrase sounds like bravado. But paired with his film habits, it reads more like process. Pavia isn’t just talking himself up. He’s actively studying how the best improvisers operate under pressure, then working to internalize their approach.
Whether NFL teams buy in remains uncertain. Pavia is projected as a late-round pick at best. But the quarterback preparing for his shot in Mobile has identified exactly what separates the plays that look impossible from the ones that work anyway.
He watches them every night.
