Snap count reveals Alabama's reliance on injured wideouts John Metchie, Jameson Williams

Just weeks after losing John Metchie to a season-ending torn ACL in the SEC Championship game, Alabama’s already-thin wide receiving corps suffered another blow in the national championship: Jameson Williams went down with a non-contact injury late in the second quarter against Georgia, further dwindling the depth.

Alabama’s offense relied heavily on the duo throughout the regular season, so much so that Metchie and Williams made up 171 of the Crimson Tide’s 345 total receptions, as well as 2,649 of the team’s 4,704 receiving yards. But perhaps no statistic reveals Nick Saban and Bill O’Brien’s dependence on the wide receivers than their snap counts.

According to ESPN Stats and Info, entering the national title game on Monday, Alabama had run just 29 offensive plays all season without both Williams and Metchie on the field when the score was within 21 (the condition helps mitigate the factor of garbage-time snaps).

Metchie, who didn’t dress tonight after his torn ACL, certainly won’t play. And at the time of publication, though Williams’ status has not been clarified, a non-contact injury seems serious enough to end his day. Now, Saban, O’Brien and the Alabama offense will have to break out some new weapons with the national championship on the line.

Jameson Williams suffers non-contact injury in national championship

Alabama’s offense, which is already suffering from injuries, may have lost yet another tool in Jameson Williams.

Williams, a star wide receiver for the Crimson Tide, went down with a non-contact injury in the second quarter of Alabama’s national championship contest with Georgia. His injury came shortly after Alabama lost wide receiver John Metchie to a torn ACL in the SEC Championship.

Alabama scored a field goal on its first drive then punted twice — and on the fourth drive, the Crimson Tide got off to an excellent start thanks to Williams. On first-and-10 from Alabama’s own 26-yard line, quarterback Bryce Young dropped back in the pocket and found Williams wide open in the middle of the field for a big 40-yard gain. However, shortly after crossing midfield, Williams was met by a Georgia defender and appeared to buckle his knee as he made his way to the turf.

The severity of Williams’ injury remains unclear. After a short stint in the medical tent, Williams emerged and began walking on the sideline on his own power. He then went straight to the locker room with the trainers.

At the time of his injury, Williams had four receptions for 65 yards, the latter of which led all Alabama receivers.

Losing Metchie was a blow in itself, and Young went so far as to say that Metchie is “someone that you can’t replace.” At the time of his injury, Metchie led all Alabama receivers with 96 receptions, good for 1,142 yards and eight touchdowns. He became one of just 13 receivers in Alabama program history to eclipse the 1,000-yard receiving mark in a single season, and paired with Williams, the duo was the second such Alabama wide receiver combo to each notch 1,000 receiving yards.

Metchie, a junior, has 155 receptions on his Alabama career, good for seventh-best in program history, and after taking over as Young’s No. 1 receiver in 2021 he shined — Metchie was named to the All-SEC second team. And in his absence, Alabama was relying on Williams to fill a huge void.

While Metchie led the offense in receptions at the time of his injury, Williams led the team in receiving yards when he left the national championship with a non-contact injury. He had 75 receptions for 1,507 yards and 15 touchdowns, averaging an incredible 20.1 yards per reception. A transfer from Ohio State, Williams broke out after having just nine receptions for 154 yards and two touchdowns last year.