Alabama wide receiver Ryan Williams had a huge breakout season as a freshman last year. He emerged as the top receiving threat for the Crimson Tide, making 48 receptions for 865 yards and eight TDs. He is now heading into his sophomore season as one of the top wide receivers in the nation.

Offseason workouts have been busy for Ryan Williams, and on Wednesday, he got a special opportunity. Williams participated in an offseason workout with strength coach Yo Murphy, who resides in Tampa, Florida. This also gave him the chance to work out with Super Bowl-winning Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeVonta Smith.

The news that they worked out together came from Murphy’s Instagram story. It was then reposted on X by Alabama Crimson Tide reporter Brody Smoot.

“Alabama wide receiver Ryan Williams and DeVonta Smith are working out this offseason with Yo Murphy — a strength coach that works in Tampa, Florida. Williams and Smith have similar builds. Williams is listed at 6-feet tall and 175 pounds. Smith is listed at 6-feet tall and 170 pounds.”

“Oftentimes, Williams has been compared to Smith. It is certainly interesting to see the two working out together during the offseason.”

DeVonta Smith has been in the NFL for four seasons and previously played for the Crimson Tide in college. This past season, he played 13 games, registering 68 receptions for 833 yards and eight TDs. He had one of his best games of the year in the Super Bowl, where he made four receptions for 69 yards and one TD.

Ryan Williams speaks about the challenges in Kalen DeBoer’s first year as Alabama’s head coach

The SEC Network released footage of Alabama’s spring practice in a documentary titled “All In” on Monday. It covered some of the highlights of the spring practice period while interviewing some of the players and coaches. Ryan Williams was one of the players featured in the documentary. He spoke about the challenges the team experienced under Kalen DeBoer last season.

“When Coach DeBoer first got here, it was kind of a culture shock,” Williams said. “Just listening to the other guys, some people weren’t bought into Coach DeBoer yet. Now that we’re in year two, basically everyone that’s here [is] bought into Coach DeBoer and the rest of the coaching staff and everything we do.”

Alabama went 9-4 in its first season with DeBoer at the helm. It will be interesting to see if they can bounce back and qualify for the college football playoff in 2025.