Alabama reportedly used custom VR exercises to fix Ryan Coleman-Williams’ drop issues
By Jacob Moss
Published:
One of the recurring themes for star Alabama wideout Ryan Coleman-Williams over the past couple of seasons has been an issue with drops. After a stellar freshman season in which he dropped just 4 passes, that number skyrocketed in 2025.
He actually led the entire nation in that category last year with 13 dropped balls, and it looked like this troubling trend was set to continue in 2026 after he recorded 2 more drops in the Tide’s season opener against East Carolina.
It looks like whatever was causing trouble for Coleman-Williams early on has finally been remedied, as he hasn’t dropped a single pass since that Week 1 showing, and ESPN’s Alex Scarborough reports that VR and a string played a pivotal role in helping him get back on track.
Per Scarborough, Coleman-Williams sat down with Alabama athletic trainer Ryan Allen during the offseason to figure out how to eliminate his drops. After some testing, Allen concluded that while the elite pass catcher had perfect 20/20 vision, he was having trouble with convergence and depth perception.
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To address these issues, Allen reached out to a specialized VR company that helps elderly patients recovering from traumatic brain injuries, and the technology helped isolate the problem. Per Scarborough, Allen said that the VR confirmed that only one of Coleman-Williams’ eyes was tracking the ball, leading to him misjudging passes while they were in the air.
Once they figured out the issue, Allen then said they used a tool known as a “Brock String” to help eliminate the issue. It appears that this unorthodox approach has worked wonders, as Coleman-Williams has gone 4 straight weeks without a dropped pass.
Now, with the biggest game of the season on deck against No. 2 Georgia, it looks like the Tide’s X-factor in the passing game has returned to the 2024 version of himself that took the entire nation by storm.
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