Alabama wide receiver coach JaMarcus Shephard loves what he’s seen from freshman phenom Ryan Williams.
Williams has taken the college football world by storm as a 17-year-old, but Shephard knows the young WR still has much to learn. The coach acknowledged that Williams “can’t know everything” yet and that most freshmen “hit a wall.”
“True freshman. He can’t be that smart. He can’t know everything. So, at some point, you hit a wall as a freshman and some of that production tends to go down,” said Shephard.
“True freshman. He can’t be that smart. He can’t know everything. So, at some point, you hit a wall as a freshman and some of that production tends to go down.” – Alabama WR Ryan Williams’ position coach says he wouldn’t double-team the 17-year-old phenom pic.twitter.com/t2ZDsJlEUx
— The Next Round (@NextRoundLive) October 16, 2024
Through 6 games, Williams has caught 23 passes for 576 yards and 6 touchdowns. The freshman leads Alabama in receptions, receiving yards, and touchdowns. He also leads the nation in yards per catch (25.0).
As Shephard mentioned, though, defenses could begin to key in on the freshman. Williams’ best game came against Georgia when he caught 6 passes for 177 yards and 1 score. In the 2 games since, Williams has a combined 7 catches for 114 yards and 1 touchdown. That’s still good production, but less than what the wideout put up to begin the season.
Even with less gaudy numbers against South Carolina, Shephard mentioned that the game was one of Williams’ highest-graded games of the season. The coach was asked if Williams was approaching said “rookie wall,” but Shephard wasn’t ready to say that.
“That’s not for me to answer, I don’t know,” he answered. “I’m just saying, right now, he’s playing at a high level.”
The next test for the Tide will be in Week 8 against No. 11 Tennessee on the road. Kickoff is at 3:30 p.m. ET on ABC.
Bryce Lazenby covers college football for Saturday Down South. A Nashville native, his previous stops include FanSided, Dimers, and The Leaf-Chronicle.
