What is Alabama football’s message to Ryan Williams amidst struggles?

What Alabama football's message is to Ryan Williams amidst struggles?

Ryan Williams has been the target of fan and media criticism after having another outing that featured a potential game-changing drop near the end zone and an “olé” blocking technique, jumping out of the way instead of making contact.

In the commentary booth, Kirk Herbstreit dropped a pretty heavy hammer on Williams, wondering if NIL is messing with top players’ heads in college football.

Alabama’s Isaiah Horton was asked on Tuesday about what his advice to Williams is after the sophomore dropped a wide-open touchdown pass and blocked his blocks early in the game.

“Block it out,” Horton said. “You know you can make those plays. You’ve done it before. Block it out. It’s a part of the game. Come back. Let’s go to work today. It’s time to get better.”

Williams made up for his drop by catching five passes for 43 yards, but it appeared as if Williams was making business decisions on a few plays when he whiffed on blocks.

Granted, he is not the largest wide receiver in the game, and he’s more of a finesse type of wide receiver. He didn’t get the nickname “Hollywood” for being a stellar blocker.

However, blocking is a part of the position, and he could heavily impact the play if he misses on his assignment. Even DeVonta Smith, a former Alabama wide receiver who’s nearly 10 pounds lighter than Williams, blocks his tail off despite the possible disadvantage.

As a wide receiver himself, Horton was asked how Williams can get better as a blocker and if it starts with the mental or physical piece of it.

“I say both,” Horton said. “It goes hand in hand, and also, you just got to work at it like anything else in life. If you’re not good at it, continue to work at it. Repeat it over and over and over until you feel comfortable about it.”

The overall consensus in the building is that Williams is not drifting into a slump, rather he is continuing to build off of his breakout freshman season and responding well even after a bad play.

“He knows he’s just got to keep progressing, keep developing, keep working,” Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer said on Monday. “What I know I see on the football field every day is a guy that is working hard at it. We know how skilled he is and how big of a threat he is any time he’s on the field. I thought he responded well. Had some nice catches and third down conversions. Had a ball late in the half there that was explosive that helped us cross mid field and put points on the board. So, I thought his response was really good. He stayed focused and I think really what he’s locked in on is the team. Again, he’s not going to be perfect, just like any other guy. We expect a lot out of him, and we’ve built that up for him, and he certainly wants that. He’s just gotta keep taking steps and getting better, and he will. Just keep working through it. His desire to go out there and be a team player, block, I mean, the want to factor is there. Just gotta keep working on the fundamental things.”

From what is sounds like, there is no internal worry about Alabama’s star receiver. It will be interesting to see if Williams improves as a blocker over time, but there shouldn’t be too much concern about his receiving ability as he can take a game over when he is on fire with his route running and pass catching.