Updating where Alabama stands in recruitment of Five-Star+ WR Ryan Williams

The lone uncommitted 2024 On3 Industry Ranking five-star prospect is Ryan Williams. Formerly of the 2025 class, Williams reclassified as an Alabama commit but did not sign with the Crimson Tide in December. And once Nick Saban announced his retirement, the recruitment was officially opened up for others.

Since then, Texas A&M has received a visit from Williams, reconnecting with Holmon Wiggins. Texas was thought to be in the race but On3’s Gerry Hamilton is reporting his visit for this weekend has been canceled. Auburn was always a threat to sign the Five-Star Plus+ prospect and feels good about their chances at the moment.

Alabama’s chances were thought to be fading away due to the coaching change. If you ask Tim Watts of On3’s BOL, staying away from the Crimson Tide would have been quite easy for Williams.

“He had an out to eliminate Alabama,” Watts said during Tuesday’s episode of Andy Staples On3. “Nick Saban is gone, a lot of the staff is gone. Travaris Robinson is gone. Holmon Wiggins is gone. Tommy Rees is gone. A lot of the guys he dealt with there. So, he had an out if he wanted to take an out.”

But over the past week, Williams has been in Tuscaloosa quite a bit. He showed up on Monday to hang out with one of his good friends, Alabama cornerback Jaylen Mbakwe. A couple of days later, the new coaching staff was in Saraland for an in-home visit before the official visit took place on Saturday.

Williams and those around him have had around a week to become familiar with the new coaching faces.

Ryan Williams an important recruitment for Alabama, Kalen DeBoer

Saban’s staff knew how important of a target Williams was, fighting for their lives to keep him. Kalen DeBoer and his assistants feel the same way, especially coming from an offensive background.

The biggest positive Alabama has in their favor is the work DeBoer was able to do with Washington from a season ago. Some of the coaches might have deep recruiting ties to the South but two Huskies receivers went for over 1,100 yards last season en route to a national championship appearance.

“I would imagine DeBoer and Grubb can show a receiver prospect like Ryan Williams — ‘Hey, here’s Rome Odunze, here’s Ja’Lynn Polk, here’s Jalen McMillian. Here’s what we do with really good receivers. Here’s how that looks.’

“Everybody says these guys don’t know the area. But what they put on film the last two years, especially with quarterbacks in receivers, would probably be really enticing,” Staples said.

Williams is expected to commit and sign with a school on Feb. 9. Alabama certainly feels like they are in the thick of things, while Auburn may be the biggest competition at the moment. Landing Williams would be huge for DeBoer and not just for perception reasons.

“A humongous target for 50 reasons,” Watts said. “Five-star, in-state. But also the dude is extremely talented and you’re looking at a guy in Kalen DeBoer and (Ryan) Grubb that love the route running. JeMarcus Sheppard is known for his route-running ability and there is nothing on that route tree that Ryan Williams can’t run.

“So, it plays more than just the visual but that plays in. The kid is just extremely talented.”