National writer sets Auburn's Cam Coleman and Bama's Ryan Williams bar at first-round NFL WR
Saturday Down South's Connor O'Gara believes 2024 would be a successful year for Auburn's Cam Coleman and Alabama's Ryan Williams if they came anywhere close to the production Jaylen Waddle had as a true freshman in 2018.
"The 5-star true freshman receivers will have just a couple of eyeballs on them in the state of Alabama. Coleman and Williams are entering receiver rooms that desperately need a shot of life," O'Gara prefaced before saying, "They could provide it. Just remember that the only SEC true freshman wide receiver in the past 8 seasons who had 800 receiving yards was 2018 Jaylen Waddle. Anything resembling that from Coleman or Williams would be quite the Year 1 statement."
Williams has the chance to have such an impact because he didn't choose to join the "Freeze Four" on the Plains. Coleman, meanwhile, will be too hard to miss with his size (six-foot-three, 197 pounds) and athleticism (4.4 40-yard dash) during the 2024 season for Payton Thorne or whoever else might get a shot under center. Both will be contending with veterans though, with Kobe Prentice and Kendrick Law on the Crimson Tide and KeAndre Lambert-Smith and Rivaldo Fairweather on the Tigers all due for a lion's share of targets.
Ryan Williams helped Alabama stave off Auburn having five of top 10 in-state 2024 recruits
Williams' importance to Alabama's Class of 2024 cannot be overstated. After Nick Saban retired from his post as head coach and handed the reins to Kalen DeBoer, with a massive staff swap-out following it, Auburn started making serious in-roads in-state.
Had Williams done what many thought he could do and flipped to the Plains, though, it could've been worse for the Bammers -- the Tigers would have had half of the top 10 2024 recruits in the state of Alabama.
Williams will have plenty of Crimson Tide fans hoping for him to be a savior, but he'll also have Tiger fans wondering what they missed out on; besides the name of the group being the "Freeze Five" instead of the "Freeze Four."