Ryan Williams showed against Wisconsin he can be more than a receiver for Alabama football if it needs.
The freshman receiver not only caught passes as a starter, but he also returned a punt.
Williams, rotating in for a snap with Jaylen Mbakwe, took a punt back 20 yards against the Badgers.
Could we see him return another punt again soon? Here’s how DeBoer answered that question.
“With the injury to Cole Adams, that was one guy taken off of that area in our depth,” DeBoer said. “(Mbakwe) has been back there doing a good job with his opportunities, and we need to continue to build that. And just getting Ryan one rep out there, I thought was good. He did a nice job. Looked very comfortable back there.”
DeBoer noted Germie Bernard can return punts as well.
“We just want to make sure guys continue to get that one rep, feel comfortable,” DeBoer said. “And there’s always little things that pop up that guys can learn from. And there were some learning opportunities even with (Mbakwe). Just staying away from the football on one of those punts that was rolling. We’ve got to do a better job there of staying away. Everything is again a new experience, especially for some of these younger guys, freshmen like Ryan and (Mbakwe). But they’ve done a really nice job so far.”
No. 4 Alabama (3-0) has an open week this week before facing No. 1/2 Georgia (3-0) a week from Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Nick Kelly is an Alabama beat writer for AL.com and the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X and Instagram.
