Tag: Roydell Williams

Former Alabama RB Roydell Williams transferring to Florida State

On Saturday, former Alabama running back Roydell Williams transferred to Florida State. He became the fourth former Alabama player to transfer to the Seminoles this offseason.

In recent weeks, the Alabama football program lost its two feature backs — Jase McClellan (2024 NFL draft) and Roydell Williams (NCAA transfer portal). On Saturday, Williams decided to transfer to Florida State. The news comes a day after Williams took an official visit to Florida State.

Williams, an Alabama native, spent four seasons in Tuscaloosa. During his Alabama career, he had 234 carries for 1,165 yards and 11 touchdowns. He saw an increased role in Alabama’s offense this past season. As a senior, Williams had 111 carries for 560 yards and five touchdowns.

Williams will join three former teammates in Tallahassee. Wide receiver Malik Benson, cornerback Earl Little Jr., and interior offensive lineman Terrence Ferguson each transferred to Florida State this offseason.

It will be interesting to see what type of role Williams carves out in the Seminoles’ backfield. He will likely see more playing time in Tallahassee than he would have in a crowded, running back room in Tuscaloosa in 2024.

Roll Tide Wire will continue to follow the latest news regarding the Alabama football program and its former players in the NCAA transfer portal.

Alabama RB Roydell Williams likely to return for fifth and final season of eligibility

Alabama running back Roydell Williams is expected to return to the program in 2024, according to recent reports.

According to TideIllustrated’s Tony Tsoukalas, sources believe that Alabama running back Roydell Williams is going to return for his fifth and final season.

Williams was a feature back for the Crimson Tide this past season. He split carries with Alabama senior Jase McClellan.

The native of Hueytown, Alabama has been a workhorse for the Crimson Tide offense in short-yardage situations over the past two seasons. In 2023, Williams had 111 carries for 560 yards and five touchdowns.

With Williams likely returning, it could force one of the running backs that were planning on returning to transfer. Currently, Alabama has four other running backs: Jam Miller, Justice Haynes, Richard Young, and Kevin Riley. Not to mention, Alabama could be receiving a commitment from 2024 four-star running back Daniel Hill on Saturday afternoon.

There will be a lot of questions surrounding the running back room in the coming days and weeks ahead with Williams’ decision looming.

Roll Tide Wire will continue to follow the latest regarding the Alabama football program.

Projecting which Alabama players will turn pro and which players will return to school

When the season comes to an end, several Alabama players will have to decide whether to go pro or return to school. See who we predict to declare and come back.

Every year, the Alabama football program has roster turnover. Some players elect to enter the NFL draft. Others either elect to return to school or enter the transfer portal.

For upperclassmen, the usual option is to go pro or return to school. In the past, multiple players have increased their stock by returning to Alabama instead of declaring early. Several that come to mind are Reuben Foster, Rashaan Evans, and Najee Harris. Several who entered the draft early and likely would have benefitted from coming back were Adrian Hubbard, Saivion Smith, and Deionte Thompson.

With Alabama’s season ending in less than a month, a handful of players will be tasked with making critical decisions for their future.

Roll Tide Wire projects which Alabama players will turn pro and which players will choose to return to school.

10 Alabama players who face tough NFL draft decisions

These Alabama football stars will face tough decisions at the conclusion of the Crimson Tide’s season

Alabama’s 2023 season is not yet complete but that doesn’t mean it is too early to be looking ahead to the 2024 NFL draft. After all, nobody has funneled more players into the NFL than [autotag]Nick Saban[/autotag] during his tenure with the Crimson Tide.

Each year it seems like Coach Saban and Alabama have several players who have tough decisions to mull over in terms of staying in school or entering the NFL draft early and this year will not be any different.

There are still a lot of variables at play relative to some pending decisions with none more prevalent than the Crimson Tide’s potential College Football Playoff run that could help catapult certain Alabama stars into a higher NFL draft projection.

Here are 10 Alabama players who currently face tough NFL draft decisions following the conclusion of the season.

Tale of the Tape: Auburn vs. Alabama

The Alabama Crimson Tide are nearly two-touchdown favorites to win the Iron Bowl. Does the Tale of the Tape say this game will be closer?

The 6-5 Auburn Tigers finish the regular season on Saturday when they play host to the 10-1 Alabama Crimson Tide in the Iron Bowl.

Auburn is coming off its worst loss of the season, and maybe the decade, last week in a 31-10 beatdown against New Mexico State.

On the other side, [autotag]Nick Saban[/autotag] and the Tide have been playing great football since an early-season loss to Texas, giving them an outside chance at the College Football Playoff.

Despite the last three Iron Bowls at Jordan-Hare being decided by an average of 6 points, [autotag]Nick Saban[/autotag]‘s squad is a 13.5-point favorite to improve to 10-1 according to Bet MGM. 

ESPN FPI seemingly agrees with the oddsmakers, as the model gives Alabama an 85.8% chance to keep their playoff hopes alive on Saturday.

Will the tale of the tape tell us this game is going to be closer than expected, or is Alabama going to roll to another Iron Bowl victory?

As always, we’ll start with the quarterbacks.

Auburn quarterback [autotag]Payton Thorne[/autotag] has had himself a roller coaster season more inconsistent than the food truck locations on campus.

The junior played well in team’s 3-game win streak to open the year, then struggled for about a month before finding his footing at the end of October.

Thorne averaged nearly 213 yards and 3 touchdowns per game in Auburn wins over Arkansas, Vanderbilt, and Mississippi State, leading many people to believe the offense had found life heading into the home stretch of the season.

That belief fizzled last week, as Thorne threw for just 148 yards and 1 touchdown in the team’s loss to New Mexico State. The Tigers quarterback was also sacked 4 times.

Alabama quarterback [autotag]Jalen Milroe [/autotag] has had a similar type of “roller coaster” season. The sophomore opened the season with accuracy issues, and while he’s figured out some, Milroe still struggles to throw the ball at times.

The difference between Milroe and Thorne lies in their rushing ability. While the Alabama quarterback has only rushed for 332 yards, he’s collected 12 rushing touchdowns to go along with 19 passing scores.

Those 31 total touchdowns account for nearly double of [autotag]Payton Thorne[/autotag]’s 17 total scores.

The clear quarterback edge goes to Milroe and the Crimson Tide.

Alabama also holds the edge in the position player battle.

While Auburn running back [autotag]Jarquez Hunter[/autotag] has been great this season, rushing for 772 yards and 7 scores, his presence isn’t enough to break through the rolling tide of offensive firepower on the Alabama side.

Quarterback [autotag]Jalen Milroe[/autotag] has done much of the heavy lifting in the red zone, but Tide running backs [autotag]Jase McClellan[/autotag] and [autotag]Roydell Williams[/autotag] have been great in-between the 20s.

The tandem has rushed for 1,204 yards this season, on nearly 5.3 yards per carry. The duo gets the slight edge over Hunter.

The real difference lies in the receiving core on the offensive side of the ball, as Alabama senior [autotag]Jermaine Burton[/autotag] is easily the best pass-catcher in this game.

Burton’s 642 receiving yards just about equal the recieving yards of the top 2 Tigers pass catchers, [autotag]Rivaldo Fairweather[/autotag] (349) and [autotag]Jay Fair[/autotag] (300).

The Crimson Tide get the edge across the offense.

The gap is closer of defense, but Alabama still gets the edge.

[autotag]Nick Saban[/autotag]’s defensive unit is about as stout as stout can get. They’ve held opponents to just over 17 points per game this season which has led them to the fifth-highest defensive efficiency ranking according to ESPN FPI.

Auburn’s unit has been great for much of the season too, but struggled mightily against New Mexico State last week.

[autotag]Eugene Asante[/autotag], [autotag]Jalen McCleod[/autotag], and the Tigers defense have held opponents to just under 21.5 points per game and they rank 19th in defensive efficiency.

The defensive gap is close, and with Auburn having the home field advantage, I’m going to call it a wash for this Iron Bowl.

 

Contact/Follow us @TheAuburnWire on  X (Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Auburn news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Brian on Twitter @TheRealBHauch

 

Alabama survives road scare and beats USF 17-3

Alabama survives a scare form USF in Tampa before heading into SEC play next week

A win is a win, but it doesn’t get much uglier than it was this afternoon for Alabama. A late Ty Simpson one-yard rushing TD sealed the deal for a 17-3 victory.  The defense played well for the most part only allowing three points and Roydell Williams carried the ball 17 times for 129 yards and a score, but for Tide fans, there weren’t a lot of positive takeaways.

The quarterback play was sub-par, but Simpson seemed to find a bit of rhythm in the second half, but the QB battle will rage onto next week. Buchner clearly wasn’t the guy and likely will not get another shot for the remainder of the season. The wide receivers combined for six catches that went for 49 yards.

The offensive line struggled to say the least and there are many things to clean up heading into Ole Miss next week – a team who is currently averaging 55 points a game. I expect Simpson to get the start next week, but will likely have a short leash with a lot of people rallying behind Milroe.

But, a win is a win and the Tide still can achieve all of their goals for the 2023 season.

Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes and opinion. You can also follow Sam Murphy on Twitter @SamMurphy02.

Alabama football countdown to kickoff: 5 days

We are Roydell Williams days away from the start of Alabama football’s 2023 season opener!

The Alabama Crimson Tide will take the field for the 2023 college football season in 5 days, as Middle Tennessee State visits Bryant Denny Stadium on Sept. 2.

Here at Roll Tide Wire, we will be counting down the days until Nick Saban and his team take the field.

With 5 days remaining, we will take a look at the current member of the Crimson Tide who wears No. 5, senior running back [autotag]Roydell Williams[/autotag].

Williams is a physical back for the Tide who specializes in the little things for Alabama such as short-yardage situations and blitz pickups as well as being an impactful special teams player.

Williams has totaled over 600 rushing yards and six touchdowns through his first three seasons in Tuscaloosa and should have an impactful role for the Crimson Tide in 2023.

Roydell Williams’ Photo Gallery

Alabama football countdown to kickoff: 23 days

We are now just 23 days away from the start Alabama football’s 2023 season!

The Alabama Crimson Tide will take the field for the 2023 college football season in 23 days, as Middle Tennessee State visits Bryant Denny Stadium on Sept. 2.

Here at Roll Tide Wire, we will be counting down the days until Nick Saban and his team take the field.

The No. 23 has not been an all too popular number as of late. [autotag]Roydell Williams [/autotag] wore the jersey during his first two seasons in  Tuscaloosa but has since switched to No. 5. With that being said we will take a closer look at Williams’s career while he wore No. 23.

Transfer defensive back Trey Amos now wears No. 23 for the Crimson Tide.

Roydell Williams’s Photo Gallery

5 sleepers on Alabama’s offense heading into 2023

Five sleepers on Alabama’s offense heading into the 2023 college football season!

We are now under two months away from the start of the 2023 college football season. Now, it truly feels like it is just around the corner. Before you know it, Nick Saban and the Alabama football team will be taking the field inside Bryant-Denny Stadium to play the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders on Sept. 2.

As we patiently await kickoff in early September, I thought we could dive into some players on Alabama’s roster who are being slept on entering the 2023 season. We will start things off on the offensive side of the ball, where most of the conversations this offseason have centered around the ongoing quarterback battle, but I assure you, there is plenty of other positions and players to discuss from now until kickoff.

Let’s begin, shall we?

Alabama’s running back room ranked in the top ten of college football

Alabama football expected to have one of the most talented running back rooms in 2023

Alabama’s dynasty was originally built on an elite running game and dominant offensive lines. Over the past couple of years, however, they have gotten away from that identity.

Granted, the Tide had a solid run of NFL quarterbacks in Jalen Hurts, Tua Tagovailoa, Mac Jones and Bryce Young, but the key to success in 2023 will be getting back to the ground game. Alabama has had some incredibly special talent at the position in guys like Mark Ingram, Derrick Henry, Josh Jacobs, Jahmyr Gibbs and so many more.

It will be no easy task trying to replace the Tide’s leading rusher from the 2022 season in Gibbs, as he led the way with 151 carries as well as tacking on 44 receptions which also led the team. Jase McClellan and Roydell Williams will both find bigger roles in the offense this season. McClellan had 112 rushing attempts for 655 yards and seven scores while Williams had 56 carries for 250 yards and four scores.

There are also sky-high expectations for incoming freshman Justice Haynes who is a four-star recruit and was ranked as the second RB in the 2023 recruiting cycle. However, people in Tuscaloosa seem to believe that Haynes could be the Tide’s leading back by the end of the season. Haynes played varsity all four years of high school and posted a mind-boggling 777 carries, 7,407 yards, and 91 touchdowns.

Between McClellan, Williams and Haynes the Alabama faithful should have high hopes for this position group. Max Chadwick of Pro Football Focus also holds the Crimson Tide running back room in high regard as he ranks them as one of the ten best in college football alongside fellow SEC foes Arkansas and Georgia.

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Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes and opinion. You can also follow Sam Murphy on Twitter @SamMurphy02.