The weight of expectations – never know how that’s gonna go. Some players are going to rise to the occasion, some are going to crumble.

It’s early, understand, but it sure doesn’t feel like Oklahoma freshman quarterback Caleb Williams is going to take a backseat to anybody as long as he’s in Norman.

Going nuts about a spring game performance seems like it’s jumping the gun, but you couldn’t have asked for more from the former five-star quarterback.

Here’s someone who didn’t have a senior season in high school because of COVID-19, but Williams still absolutely looked the part during his first spring with the Sooners.

Everything kept building and building until the spring game where Williams was arguably the most impressive player of the afternoon and easily one of the breakout performers of spring.

Nobody is saying he’ll unseat Spencer Rattler for the starting job in 2021, but as first impressions go? Not much more Williams could have done.

“He came in and he has the mindset he’s going to play Day 1, 2. So, it keeps the competition in there,” linebacker Caleb Kelly said. “I know Coach Riley loves it because he’s got two guys that can start anywhere right there in his pocket, and you know what Riley can do with quarterbacks.

“I think him playing today (spring game), that’s how he is too. He’s going to throw the ball. He’s going to run. He has that ability. He’s fast for sure. This spring, he’s really good for a young guy for sure. He’s a good guy off the field too. They could ball anywhere, but I’m happy they’re here.”

In what was his best performance of the spring, Williams completed 10 of 11 passes for 99 yards with a touchdown and was the game’s leading rusher with 61 yards on six attempts.

Blue/no contact jersey ‘n all, it was the decisiveness that stood out with Williams to head coach Lincoln Riley.

Being ready for a spring game environment doesn’t mean you’ll be ready when it’s the real thing, but it’s the first step toward getting there. You have to handle the small moments first before you start climbing higher and higher.

“Caleb is doing well. He’s getting a lot of reps. He’s learning a lot. We’re throwing him in a lot of different situations,” Riley said. “I think he’s done a good job … he’s done a pretty good job of making plays outside the pocket.

“He’s athletic. He throws well on the move. He has some creative to his game. He still has to get consistent on the more routine plays, which is normal for this time in the offense. He’s just learning and getting started. He’s working hard to learn it while balancing a pretty challenging class load right now. He has a lot on his plate. He’s doing well. He’s progressing nicely.”

It's a different dynamic than when Rattler came in to learn under Jalen Hurts. But the hope is the same end result. There is zero question, looking back now, how much that one year with Hurts at OU helped the growth and development of Rattler, on and off the field.

They don’t have to be best friends. Nobody is claiming Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray were best buds or that Rattler and Hurts were, either. But there’s a respect there, real recognizing real, iron sharpens iron, however you want to phrase it, that the goal is for both to be much better quarterbacks because of each other’s presence.

Rattler was once in Williams’ spot as that five-star prodigy. He understands everything that it entails and now fully understands how to deal with it.

“He’s new to it like I was at one point,” Rattler said. “Everything isn’t smooth as you want it to be as a new guy. You’re going to go through some ups and downs, going through team runs or just learning the offense overall. But from what I’ve seen he’s been doing a pretty good job. He’s athletic. He can throw the ball.

“I think we all make each other better just kind of seeing what each other does and competing against each other I guess you could say. We kind of feed off each other. He’ll be a good quarterback, for sure.”