Shortly before Alabama kicks off against Tennessee in the annual Third Saturday in October rivalry matchup, ESPN reported that star WR Ryan Coleman-Williams, who was ruled out for this game earlier in the week, underwent arthroscopic surgery on his knee.
Coleman-Williams had been wearing a bulky knee brace for the last couple of weeks and was trying to gut it out until the bye week. Last week against Georgia, Coleman-Williams was knocked out of the game in the fourth quarter after a head-to-head collision.
His head injury was already going to cost him this week and potentially next, so it appears Alabama and Coleman-Williams opted to get the procedure done, which will keep him out "a few weeks." He'll miss next week against Texas A&M for certain, and then the Crimson Tide has a bye week on Halloween before the trip to LSU on November 7th, which would seemingly be the target date for his return.
ESPN's @Katie_George05 reports that star Alabama WR Ryan Coleman-Williams underwent arthroscopic surgery on his injured knee. He'd been dealing with a meniscus injury.
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) October 17, 2026
Derek Meadows is slated to start in place of Ryan Coleman-Williams at Tennessee
While Alabama will need Derek Meadows, Noah Rogers, and Cederian Morgan to all step up in Coleman-Williams' absence, the sophomore Meadows appears to be getting the first crack at filling in for him.
Meadows was listed as a starter on Alabama's depth chart ahead of this afternoon's matchup against Tennessee. DeBoer specifically singled out Rogers, however, in his pregame comments to the Crimson Tide Sports Network:
"Guys like Noah Rogers, more than likely, getting more opportunities than he's had," DeBoer said, via Charlie Potter. "This is about the week that you're really kind of striving for to ramp his numbers up. Derek Meadows, I can see getting more opportunities, as well, in relief of Ryan."
Coleman-Williams was in the midst of a resurgent junior season. Through six games, he's Alabama's leading receiver with 415 yards and four touchdowns on 18.0 yards per reception. After struggling with drops last season, the junior WR only has one single drop on the season, which occurred in the season-opener against East Carolina.
It's a big loss for Alabama's offense. Not just from his ability with the ball in his hands, but Coleman-Williams has significant gravity when he's on the field. He draws a lot of defensive attention, which typically opens up soft spots in the coverage for Alabama's other playmakers.
Coleman-Williams' absence will also put a lot more on the plates of Lotzeir Brooks and Rico Scott, who have started alongside him for the first six weeks of the season.
Brooks will have to be the home run threat, and Scott will have to be as QB-friendly as possible and make some contested catches in key moments.
Alabama heads into this matchup at Tennessee pretty banged up, but DeBoer has to find a way to lead this team to a win in Neyland anyway.
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