"He is the mountain": CFB fans fired up over Ryan Williams' latest achievement heading into 2025 season

Ryan Williams is eager to build on a successful rookie season with the Crimson Tide in 2025. Williams caught 48 passes for 865 yards and eight touchdowns.

Williams' performance was so impressive that Pro Football Focus currently ranks him as the No. 2 returning receiver in the nation. While that's certainly some high praise for a freshman, college football fans had a thing or two to say about that on X.

Responding to the news, many suggest Williams should've gotten the top spot over the Ohio State Buckeyes' freshman wideout Jeremiah Smith.

"Ryan Williams > Jeremiah Smith…argue with a wall," wrote one fan.

"WRONG," wrote another.

"He’d be 1 with a competent QB and OC," another fan said.

"If he has a legit QB he will be WR1 in all of college football," added another fan.

Ryan Williams and Jeremiah Smith battle for dominance in 2025

As seen above, many Alabama fans believe Ryan Williams has all the makings to surpass Jeremiah Smith if he had a more competent passing quarterback. During his freshman campaign, Williams was catching passes from Jalen Milroe. However, Milroe is more of a mobile signal-caller than a pocket passer.

Syndication: The Montgomery Advertiser - Source: Imagn

Milroe finished his junior year passing for 2,844 yards, 16 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. On the ground, he ran 168 times for 726 yards and 20 touchdowns.

With Milroe declaring for the 2025 NFL Draft, all signs point to Ty Simpson picking up the mantle next season at quarterback. It remains to be seen how different Williams' numbers will look with Simpson throwing him passes.

As for Jeremiah Smith, he comes off of a freshman season in which he caught 76 passes for 1,315 yards and 15 touchdowns. Smith led the Buckeyes in most receiving categories as a freshman en route to a national championship victory. He did so with senior quarterback Will Howard serving as his quarterback. However, Howard will also head for the NFL draft.

Highly touted prospect Julian Sayin is expected to start at quarterback for the Buckeyes next season. It will be interesting to see who flourishes more between Williams and Smith with their respective new quarterbacks throwing them the ball in 2025.