Alabama football’s head coach Kalen DeBoer feels it is important for Alabama to create opportunities for Ryan Williams to make big plays all over the field.
Williams returns to Alabama for his second year with the Crimson Tide after a breakout freshman campaign.
The Alabama native was selected to the All-SEC First Team and Freshman All-SEC Team by the league coaches after pulling in 48 receptions for 865 yards and eight touchdowns during the 2024 season as one of the youngest players in college football. He missed Alabama football’s latest scrimmage as a precautionary measure, according to DeBoer.
It is unclear how much more spring action Williams will see. However, one thing that remains crystal clear is Alabama must continue to use the explosive weapon.
“He’s a versatile guy,” DeBoer said on Friday. “He can play any position, inside, outside, field boundary. It doesn’t matter, and you got to make sure that we continue to give those opportunities down the field, things you saw a year ago, explosive play opportunities but also a lot of it’s just getting the ball in his hands. I can think of some even bubble screens and things like that we did that he just created on his own. Obviously, we got to block for him but we’re going to move him around, and I think that’s one thing our receiving corps gives us. Germ (Germie Bernard) and Isaiah (Horton) can do much of the same thing, and that’s what you really love is having versatile players.”
Bernard, Horton and the return of Jalen Hale from injury has allowed the Tide to move Williams around this spring.
“One thing in the slot, bringing in Isaiah Horton and having more length on the outside now with Jalen Hale too, has allowed Ryan to move around to different spots,” DeBoer previously said. “Between he and (Germie Bernard) and really I think Isaiah can play, maybe not the slot all the time, but these guys are very versatile. They kind of have their starting points, but we can move them around. That’s really what we like to do because we want to have a very unpredictable offense. So, certain guys in certain spots don’t carry over from week to week and we can utilize their strengths still.”
The expectations for Ryan Williams remain high.
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Justin Smith is the Director of Recruiting for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter, via @Jdsmith31Smith
