Ryan Williams Named Shaun Alexander Semifinalist

As we approach the final month of the season, different national awards across college football are beginning to name semifinalists, with Jihaad Campbell and Deontae Lawson being named semifinalists for the Butkus Award on Monday.

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Ryan Williams, Alabama's 17-year-old freshman phenom at wide receiver, was a late addition to the Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year Award watchlist, but his numbers back up his addition. Williams leads Alabama in receptions, yards, and receiving touchdowns with 35 catches for 702 yards and seven touchdowns. Williams leads all freshman pass catchers in yards and touchdowns.

Williams averages 20.1 yards per catch, good for fifth in the SEC and top-11 overall in college football.

His efforts over the first two months of the season landed him a semifinalist for the Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year Award.

Additionally, Williams leads the conference in touchdowns (7) and is third in the conference in receiving yards (702) behind only Tre Harris of Ole Miss (982) and Andrew Armstrong of Arkansas (857).

Alabama has had two winners of the Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year Award: Will Anderson Jr. in 2020 and Caleb Downs in 2023.

Other SEC Freshman on the list include:

KJ Bolden, Safety - Georgia
Dylan Stewart, EDGE - South Carolina
Nico Imamaleava, Quarterback - Tennessee
Colin Simmons, EDGE - Texas

Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith and Alabama transfer quarterback Eli Holstein also were semifinalists.

Williams will return to the gridiron this Saturday, November 9, when the Alabama Crimson Tide travels to Baton Rouge, Louisiana for a 6:30 p.m. CT kickoff against the LSU Tigers.

Wyatt Fulton is the TIde 100.9 DME and Brand Manager, primarily covering Alabama Crimson Tide football and men's basketball. For more Crimson Tide coverage, follow Wyatt on X (Formerly known as Twitter) at @FultonW_.