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The Tuscaloosa News
'Age is real': What makes Alabama football freshman Ryan Williams 'different'
- Story byThe Tuscaloosa News
- 'Age is real': What makes Alabama football freshman Ryan Williams 'different'
Alabama football coach Kalen DeBoer realizes Ryan Williams will face adversity at some point even if it has not been apparent through the Crimson Tide wide receiver's first three college games.
But DeBoer also realizes that Williams is not like other freshmen.
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There's confidence in Williams, DeBoer said. There's maturity "well beyond his years," reminding everyone of the fact that has followed Williams each time he touches a football: He's 17 years old.
"I don't feel like I'm pumping him up too much, because I think he's getting the job done on the football field," DeBoer said. "He's making it happen out there."
Three games into his collegiate career, Williams isn't taking any of the credit. It's his teammates' help. It's the coaching staff's confidence.
"Just giving me the push behind that I need," Williams said. "They've helped out a lot to (speed) up the process."
Sep 7, 2024; Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA; An Alabama assistant celebrates with Alabama Crimson Tide wide receiver Ryan Williams (2) after he scored a touchdown at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Alabama defeated South Florida 42-16. Mandatory Credit: Gary Cosby Jr.-Imagn Images
From afar, the success Williams has cultivated isn't a surprise for Saraland High School football coach Jeff Kelly.
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He watched Williams grow from a young, skinny eighth-grade quarterback who always had a smile on his face to a high school receiver Kelly would promote to anyone who would listen.
The tangibles make Williams special, Kelly realizes. But those tangibles are not what make Williams the Alabama star he's become.
"The moment's never seemed too big for him at whatever stage," Kelly said.
Ryan Williams became Saraland star
The stage was set for Williams at Saraland. But it was for a role he wasn't used to.
Williams arrived as a middle-school quarterback who already had a reputation as a playmaker, something Kelly wanted to see translated as a wide receiver.
Saraland's wide receiver Ryan a. Williams (1) walks onto the field during the second round of the high school football playoffs Friday, Nov. 11, 2022 at Hillcrest High School.
"We said, 'Let's give him a shot. Let's see how he does out there,'" Kelly said. "It was a new position. It's not something really, you know, he had done, but it gave him an opportunity as a ninth-grader to get on the field."
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Williams saw the field and made an impact as a freshman. But it was only a preview of what Kelly was about to witness from a front-row seat.
In what Kelly called "one of the best years in the history of Alabama high school football," Williams had 2,661 all-purpose yards and 39 touchdowns per MaxPreps, becoming the first sophomore ever to win Alabama's Mr. Football award.
For an encore, Williams added 26 more touchdowns, 1,999 more all-purpose yards and another Mr. Football award before he reclassified to join Alabama football after his junior season at Saraland.
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"The thing that makes him special is obviously his explosion," Kelly said. "But he's tremendously instinctive, he's tremendously fluid in and out of breaks and he's got a competitive streak that's just kind of in him. That's not something that anybody can take credit for. That's just kind of who you are."
What Ryan Williams has become for Alabama football
Williams remembers his "Welcome to Alabama" moment.
It was his first time in pads, running a shallow cross over the middle of the field in the direction of senior linebacker Justin Jefferson .
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"I tried to juke," Williams said. "He just, I felt it all. He hit me so hard. I felt it in my ribs. It vibrated my entire body."
Alabama offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan's initial approach was to ease Williams into the mix. Like all freshmen, he wanted Williams to get to understand the big picture of the scheme through one position. Instead, Sheridan said, Williams quickly learned how to play both inside and out, building a route tree much more complex than a normal freshman.
Let alone a 17-year-old.
"It's not the easiest thing to do for a young player," Sheridan said.
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Williams, by no means, is a normal "young player" for Alabama.
Through three games, he is already quarterback Jalen Milroe 's bail-out target in the passing game; the epitome of the equation "4+2=6" that Milroe and Williams made their own, selling merchandise to seemingly predestine the pair's four touchdowns in three games.
Sep 7, 2024; Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA; A pass from Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback Jalen Milroe (4) is just off the fingertips of Alabama Crimson Tide wide receiver Ryan Williams (2) as he is closely defended by South Florida Bulls cornerback De'Shawn Rucker (22) at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Alabama defeated South Florida 42-16. Mandatory Credit: Gary Cosby Jr.-Imagn Images
"When I think of a fire hose, I see someone's mouth getting blown wide open when they're drinking through a firehose," Alabama wide receivers coach JaMarcus Shephard said. "His firehose must be pretty small because, I mean, this dude is conscientious, understands the game, understands what we're asking him and the moment's not too big for him."
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For Williams, it's just understanding the speed of the game, realizing the skill of each player across the line of scrimmage from him and responding accordingly.
"Being not a robot, just playing reaction football because that's what the game is about," Williams said.
It's a game that has worked for Williams as the team leader in catches (10) and receiving yards (285).
It's a game Georgia coach Kirby Smart is about to start preparing for, calling Williams "extremely talented" and a "delightful personality" ahead of the Bulldogs ' meeting with the Crimson Tide Sept. 28.
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On the football field, DeBoer sees Williams as all business and "a beast," something the freshman is "able to balance" with who he is: the podcast-hosting, painted nails-wearing, affable freshman who's become a star on Alabama's campus.
Kelly has seen all of this up close with Williams: the maturity, the hype, the weighty expectation he places on himself: all of which are uncommon of a 17-year-old high school senior, let alone a college freshman.
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The SEC and college football world are getting their first introduction to Williams. And Kelly wants to make one thing perfectly clear: none of what Williams is doing is normal.
"Ryan's different," Kelly said. "Age is real. Guys like Ryan come around once in a career."
Colin Gay covers Alabama football for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at cgay@gannett.com or follow him @_ColinGay on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: What makes Alabama football freshman WR Ryan Williams 'different'
