As a 17-year-old freshman, Alabama wide receiver Ryan Williams looked like the sport’s next superstar. The only true challenger to Ohio State’s Jeremiah Smith as the eventual best player in the country.
Then came a sophomore slump. Williams regressed from 48 catches for 865 yards and eight touchdowns to 43 grabs, 636 yards and four scores, with 10 drops, the third most of any receiver in the country this year. Williams had another drop on Friday night against Oklahoma and finished with just one catch for five yards.
Williams is one of the shiftiest, most athletic players in college football, but he’s not a natural pass catcher. He isn’t smooth with his hands and often finds himself misjudging the flight of the ball and jumping for passes he doesn’t need to. He tries to catch the ball with his body far too often, which typically leads to a high drop rate.
With such a high drop rate, Williams has fallen out of Ty Simpson’s favor. Against Oklahoma, true freshman Lotzeir Brooks took over, seeing seven targets to Williams’ three. Germie Bernard, a much more sure-handed receiver, is the clear No. 1, and as Williams has faded from prevalence, Isaiah Horton has become a favorite target of Simpson’s.
Williams is the type of player that an offensive coordinator would love design touches for on jet sweeps and screens, just to get the ball in his hands. However, those plays become a lot riskier if you don’t trust that the player you’re calling them for is going to bring the ball in. So, what role is Williams going to have for the Crimson Tide going forward, not just in the Rose Bowl against Indiana, but in 2026?
Could Ryan Williams be heading to the transfer portal
The transfer portal window was moved from mid-December to January 2-16, and there are additional windows that open for teams that are eliminated during or after that stretch, either in the CFP semifinals or the national championship game.
If Williams enters the portal at any point, it will be a surprise, but it is becoming increasingly likely. He’s a great candidate for a change of scenery to hopefully tap into his wild athletic talent. That would have been unthinkable heading into the season as a Biletnikoff Award favorite, but now it feels like a reality. And, if he makes the decision amid Alabama’s CFP run, it could get messy.
The transfer portal calendar is improved now that the window is in January. But it’s still not perfect. Last year, players, such as Penn State QB Beau Pribula, entered the portal and departed their programs during the CFP. That could happen again, especially for the teams that advance to the semifinal.
Plus, if Williams does choose to leave Tuscaloosa, with Bernard and Horton both out of eligibility, suddenly, wide receiver will become a position of need for DeBoer and general manager Courtney Morgan. Even if he does stay, the Tide could use another pass catcher because it's hard to rely on his production for 2026.
The portal window always adds interesting subplots to the college football landscape, and Williams could become a major one as he continues to be phased out of the Alabama offense.