The Alabama football program got into the win column on Saturday evening with a 73-0 win at home over Louisiana-Monroe. Making matters even more impressive for the Crimson Tide was that they did so without star wide receiver Ryan Williams in the lineup due to a head injury he suffered in the team's opening week loss to the Florida State Seminoles.
Williams has established himself as one of the game's elite receivers over the last year and change, and recently, On3 Sports tracked the money that the star will be making from his NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) deal with the school.
“Alabama WR Ryan Williams is set to make north of $1.8M this season, 2nd most in CFB for WRs,” reported On3 on X, formerly Twitter, citing a report from Pete Nakos.
Number one in that department is Ohio State football wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, who also took the country by storm as a freshman last year and helped the Buckeyes win a national championship, making the game-clinching catch in the process.
Williams recently admitted in an interview with On3 that Smith “had the better season last year … this time around, I hope I can flex.”
A crucial piece for Alabama football
Any hopes that Alabama football has of legitimate contention this year rise and fall with the health of Williams, who went down after a scary collision in the second half against Florida State.
Alabama went on to lose that game by a score of 31-17, which immediately drew calls from the fanbase for the team to move on from head coach Kalen DeBoer.
While that likely won't be happening anytime soon due to the financial implications of such a move, DeBoer will be under increased scrutiny from the fanbase this year until he proves that he can help the Crimson Tide win big games.
Up next for Alabama is a home game against Wisconsin in a rematch of last year's matchup between the two teams. After that will be a rest week before the Crimson Tide hit the road to take on the Georgia Bulldogs.
