Shutterstock
Alabama’s football team won big against Western Kentucky, scoring 63-0 in their first game of the season. Many players got to play, but freshman wide receiver Ryan Williams stood out.
He only had two catches but both were touchdowns. Not only that, he led the team with 139 yards.
This performance caught the eye of college football analyst Joel Klatt.
“Ryan Williams, if he is this good, then Kalen DeBoer has answers at wide receiver for the Tide,” Klatt said on his show Wednesday. “Which is not what they’ve had in the last two years.”
Klatt pointed out Alabama’s lack of standout wide receivers in recent years. He mentioned stars like Julio Jones and Amari Cooper from previous seasons.
“If you were to ask me what has been the biggest difference between Alabama’s teams the last two years and the ones previous to that, and in particular when you get to that 2020,’19, ’18, you can go all the way back to like Julio Jones, Amari Cooper, Jerry Jeudy, Jaylen Waddle, DeVonta Smith, Jameson Williams out there. And they haven’t had that in the last couple of years, they just have not.”
For two seasons now, Alabama hasn’t had a 1,000-yard wide receiver. This follows five straight years where at least one player hit that mark.
Williams might be the next big thing for Alabama’s offense under their skilled head coach.
“Now if Ryan Williams becomes Him, if you will, then all of a sudden they are back in that mold and they have an elite playmaker on the outside,” Klatt added. “And now they have it not some random offensive coordinator, I know all those guys didn’t have random offense coordinators. You had [Lane] Kiffin in there, you had Sark [Steve Sarkisian] in there. But now you’ve got Kalen DeBoer.”
DeBoer previously led Washington to success with top-notch wide receiver play. His coaching helped them reach last year’s national championship game.
“Think Rome Odunze,” Klatt explained. “Look at what DeBoer does with elite wide receivers. He just took Washington and went to the national championship game.”
He credited Michael Penix’s great performance but emphasized the impact of having elite wide receivers.
“So if Ryan Williams is an elite player on the outside, watch out for Alabama because Kalen DeBoer specifically knows what to do with a room like that.”
“Ryan Williams could grow into that; he could be DeBoer’s new Odunze and that’s scary for everybody.”
No doubt about it, Williams showed his potential on Saturday. He’s definitely a player to watch this season for Alabama.
