Ryan Williams doesn’t know who Alabama football’s starting quarterback will be — or at least he’s not sharing publicly.
The Crimson Tide sophomore receiver said he is getting his fair share of reps with Ty Simpson, Austin Mack and Keelon Russell, trying to get a feel this spring for whoever will be behind center Aug. 30 at Florida State.
“Before we ever come out here, I may end up in the three group just so I can run with a different quarterback, two group, one group. It doesn’t really matter,” Williams said Thursday. “Just to get a feel for each quarterback because at the end of the day, it’s about football. We’re just leaning on our guy in the backfield and hearing each one vocally.”
When it comes to the quarterback room, Williams described it as “efficient,” a trait that remains consistent from Simpson to Mack to Russell.”(Simpson is) very efficient. Him and the rest of the quarterbacks,” Williams said. “They just been trying to focus in on getting us the calls and doing a great job of being efficient, like I said. I feel like all of them have been doing that.”
When asked about Mack, Williams said the third-year quarterback is “doing the simple things,” something that all the other quarterbacks keep “the main thing.”
“Everybody wants to hit the deep ball or make the big play,” Williams said. “But it’s, like I said, efficiency, because, at the end of the day, football is a game of first downs and moving the ball.”
Like Williams, Russell was a highly-touted five-star freshman, one that carries immense expectations into his first season with the Crimson Tide, even with the experience of Simpson and Mack in front of him.
Williams recognizes the expectation Russell faces. It’s familiar. But it’s an expectation Russell is taking on incredibly well, Williams said.
I know, for sure, it isn’t easy going into a role because the expectation is so high,” Williams said. “But I can see it in his eye. He’s not worried about the expectation. He’s just worried about getting better every day and that’s what I love about this team. Everybody just wants to get better every day.”
Alabama will end its spring practice schedule at noon April 12 in its annual A Day spring game at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
