Published Oct 22, 2023
Five-star Bama commit back on campus
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Caleb Jones  •  AuburnSports
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Alabama hosted Tennessee over the weekend.

However, one of the top commits for the Crimson Tide wasn't in attendance for their 34-20 victory over the Volunteers. Five-star wide receiver Ryan Williams decided to visit Auburn instead.

Auburn lost to No. 13 Ole Miss, but Williams believes the future could be bright for the Tigers.

"Pretty good game, but like always, there’s always a couple few plays that make the difference in the game," Williams said. "In my opinion, I do think Auburn can be one of those teams that can win the SEC, but they just gotta get the players to make the plays."

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Williams is one player that Auburn believes could be one of those program changers, which is why the Tigers have put on a full press for the in-state product out of Saraland. He's not the only one out of Saraland the Tigers have their eye on, as Williams also visited with his quarterback and Texas commit KJ Lacey.

"We always enjoy our time here, especially together because we like to go places where we can visit together," Williams said. "Playing together is something that we want to do. The fact that they’re both hard on us, that definitely makes a difference."

Auburn's offense was stagnant against Ole Miss, especially in the passing game. The Tigers threw for 100 yards as a team, which Williams noted as "not encouraging," but felt it was uncharacteristic of Hugh Freeze coached teams.

"You know he loves throwing the ball," Williams said. "I just feel like he’s not as confident with this group of guys as he’s usually been that they’ll go get the ball and the ball will be where it’s supposed to be. I feel like if he had those players to have that opportunity, he would definitely throw the ball more."

In the eyes of an elite player like Williams, are the struggles on the quarterback or the receivers?

"Honestly a little bit of both," Williams said. "You can’t just put it on the quarterback, but you can’t always put it on the receivers. The chemistry has to be there and the ball has to be there and gotta catch the ball."

Williams could end up reclassifying to the 2024 class if he wanted. The 6-foot-1 wideout will have a final reclassification decision in December, but would not sign early if he did reclassify.

He'll return to Auburn for a third time this season in late November for the Iron Bowl.