Kalen DeBoer and the Alabama Crimson Tide staff knew that five-star WR Ryan Williams was going to be a special player well before he ever stepped foot on campus. The expectations for Williams have been through the roof, with many people considering him to be DeBoer’s version of Julio Jones, yet he has somehow been better than expected.
As a 17-year-old true freshman, Williams has dominated college football with 45 receptions for 857 yards and eight TDs, including the game-winning score against Georgia. Williams has made a few other dazzling plays on the season, but it seems like most of them have been called back, such as his score against Oklahoma. Williams is in the conversation for best wide receiver in the game right now and will probably bring home a Biletnikoff Award at some point during his college career.
The Shaun Alexander Award, presented annually to the nation’s top freshman, named Williams a finalist for the award alongside Ohio State’s Jeremiah Smith, Minnesota’s Koi Perich, South Carolina’s Dylan Stewart and Texas’s Colin Simmons. The award, named after Alabama legend Shaun Alexander, has only been around since the 2018 season where two former Crimson Tide players have brought home the award in Will Anderson and Caleb Downs.
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This article originally appeared on Roll Tide Wire: Alabama WR Ryan Williams a finalist for Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year Award
