If there was one play everyone remembers from last year’s duel between Alabama and Georgia it was the go-ahead, fourth-quarter touchdown from Ryan Williams in which he jumped over a Bulldog defender and raced down the sidelines for a 75-yard score.
The “prodigy” as the ESPN broadcast team quickly proclaimed had arrived. But a year later it’s easy to wonder if Williams really is the next can’t-miss thing.
The Talent Tracker is certainly not labeling Williams a bust, to be crystal clear. There’s a reason why he finished as the No. 3-ranked wide receiver in what continues to look like a generational 2024 wideout class, but it’s hard to not notice the dip in production.
Since the six-catch, 177-yard performance against a UGA defense that had seven defenders selected in the most recent NFL Draft, Williams has topped the century mark just one other time. That came two weeks ago against Wisconsin, which ranks 92nd nationally in passing defense.
What makes the trend even more striking is the fact that Auburn’s Cam Coleman — the second-ranked wide receiver in the 2024 recruiting cycle behind only Ohio State’s Jeremiah Smith — has started to out-produce Williams despite dealing with suboptimal quarterback play.
Coleman’s last 11 games: 44 catches for 705 yards and 9 touchdowns
Williams’ last 11 games: 42 catches for 598 yards and 5 touchdowns.
Neither matches Smith’s numbers or all-time talent, but Coleman is starting to close the gap, at least when it comes to getting in the end zone.
Stats certainly aren’t everything. Not in the world of evaluation. But the eye test is also starting to suggest that the larger and just-as-athletic Coleman has a higher ceiling, especially when trying to project towards Sundays. Smith is in a category of his own (he has 57 catches for 952 yards and 10 TDs in his last 11 games).
The silver lining for a healthy Williams, who suffered a concussion in the season-opening loss to FSU, is that he’s got a prime opportunity to remind the country just how much of a difference-maker he can be when No. 17 Alabama squares off with No. 3 Georgia (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC) on Saturday. It does feel like Georgia can be had a bit, too.
Williams absolutely torched the Bulldogs in his first showdown with Kirby Smart, producing three explosive plays, including the famous game-winner. He figures to once again see a heavy dose of senior UGA cornerback Daylen Everrett in coverage, but a familiar foe could also end up shadowing him depending on how much Smart & Co. elect to use former five-star Ellis Robinson IV.
For as much heat as Williams and other former blue-chip sophomores like Florida quarterback DJ Lagway have gotten since the season kicked off, Robinson’s poor play has flown a bit under the national radar. The highest-ranked defender to sign with Georgia in the modern recruiting era surrendered a pair of touchdowns against Tennessee in his first extensive SEC action.
Much like with Williams, the Talent Tracker isn’t ready to write off Robinson as he shut down Coleman, Williams and plenty of others two years ago during practices for the annual Under Armour All-America Game, but a potential battle between Williams and Robinson in Athens would add yet another layer to the game.
‘White Out’ features two must-know tight ends
There is no shortage of storylines for No. 6 Oregon’s trip to No. 3 Penn State (7:30 p.m., NBC). Here’s something that one that no one is talking about: a potential meeting of two first-round picks at tight end.
Week 5 picks college football picks: Former personnel director predicts biggest games, calls for two upsets
Cooper Petagna
Oregon junior Kenyon Sadiq has already crept into a few NFL mock drafts and his start to the season should only add fuel to the Day 1 fire as he’s caught nine passes for 155 yards and three touchdowns through four games.
Sadiq is a known commodity. Penn State sophomore Luke Reynolds is not.
Reynolds, the former No. 1-ranked tight end in the 2024 recruiting cycle for 247Sports, is third on the Nittany Lions with 16 targets this season. Many assumed that senior Khalil Dinkins would take the torch from Macky Award-winner Tyler Warren in Andy Kotelnicki’s blizzard attack, but Reynolds has played nearly as many snaps (120 for Dinkins to 110 for Reynolds).
The Talent Tracker is in no way surprised that Reynolds is getting a lot of looks from Drew Allar because we thought he was a carbon copy of Warren coming out of high school. Like Warren, Reynolds began his prep career playing quarterback before changing positions. He too was a basketball player in the offseason and the crazy part is that the testing data was almost identical for the two at the same stage.
Dinkins could very well deliver at a key moment for Penn State in a sea of white, but also keep an eye out for Reynolds and the long blonde hair flowing out of his helmet.
Jeremiah Smith’s brother commits to Ohio State
We’re still three months away from the transfer portal opening, but that doesn’t mean fanbases can’t fantasize about possibly getting Jeremaih Smith for his final year of eligibility. There’s zero reason to believe the superstar would leave Ohio State, but that’s the world we live in these days and the Buckeyes seem to be well aware.
This past weekend, Ohio State landed a commitment from Smith’s younger brother, three-star safety Angelo Smith. On the surface, this looks like Ryan Day and the Buckeyes trying to ensure that Smith and his camp remain happy. That might very well be the case, but here’s the thing: Angelo can play, and it’s a bit surprising that some of the powerbrokers in the NIL space didn’t try and make a run at Angelo in hopes of wooing Jeremiah.
Angelo started in the secondary last year for a Hollywood Chaminade-Madonna Prep program that won a Florida 1A state title. He opened up his junior campaign with an interception against Baltimore’s St. Frances Academy. Many will be quick to knock Angelo’s size, but what many don’t realize is that Angelo is tracking to start college well before his 18th birthday and that Jeremiah — believe it or not — wasn’t always the most hulking individual.
Will Angelo morph into a Greek God like Jeremiah? Probably not, but he’s a high-IQ football player that’s surprisingly physical for someone of his stature. Credit Ohio State for not over-thinking things.
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