What happened to Jameson Williams? Nick Saban's post-game comments on Alabama WR's injury
In Alabama's 32-18 loss to the Georgia Bulldogs in the College Football Playoff National Championship, the Crimson Tide lost wide receiver Jameson Williams to injury. The Ohio State transfer appeared to have hurt his knee in the first half of the game.
All season, Jameson Williams played a huge part of Alabama's success this year. Across the 2021 College Football season, Williams had 79 receptions for 1,572 yards, scoring 18 touchdowns in the process.
After the final whistle, cameras caught Georgia head coach Kirby Smart embracing Alabama head coach Nick Saban. Smart asked Saban about Williams' condition, to which Saban replied,
"They think he might have an ACL."
Georgia HC Kirby Smart asked Nick Saban about Jameson Williams’ knee injury.
Saban: “They think he might have an ACL.”
https://t.co/L7RWyYCLmy
Before his transfer to Alabama, Jameson Williams was rumored to be the fourth wide receiver on the Buckeyes depth chart, which would explain why he decided to move to the Crimson Tide.
Alabama lost two of their two main wide receivers, namely Jaylen Waddle and last year's Heisman winner DeVonta Smith to the NFL. This created an opening at the wide receiver spot for the program. Williams quickly went on to became the Alabama's No. 1 receiver and their go-to deep ball threat when the Crimson Tide needed a big play on offense.
With Williams out of the lineout, it changed the Alabama offense. The Crimson Tide literally had to depend on inexperienced wide receivers, ultimately limiting what Alabama and Heisman winning quarterback Bryce Young could do offensively.
"It's a little tough that I let them down today."
Alabama QB Bryce Young on the loss of Jameson Williams and his own performance in the #NationalChampionship https://t.co/aT4juXhl7D
Jameson Williams wasn't the only injured Crimson Tide player
Coming into Monday night's game, the Crimson Tide was already missing wide receiver John Metchie, who was injured in the SEC Championship game. Metchie, who was a second-team All SEC performer, caught the game-winning pass in Alabama's victory over Auburn in the Iron Bowl.
ESPN college football analyst Paul Finebaum feels that if Williams had stayed in the game against Ohio, the outcome may have been different.
"It was hard to watch, considering how great he has been all year. But ultimately, a lot of bad things happened to Alabama and they had not happened for a long time. … I think if Jameson Williams had not been hurt, we might have had a different result.”
When Alabama met Georgia three weeks ago in the SEC Championship Game, Williams played a huge part in proceedings, with the Bulldogs secondary having a hard time stopping him.
JAMESON WILLIAMS IS GONE
@AlabamaFTBL strikes back. https://t.co/JHFIBMwuwF
At the time of his injury on Monday night, Williams looked set to make another huge play, having caught a pass from Young before turning up field. However, the wideout seemed to suffer a non-contact injury as he awkwardly jerked his knee while trying to juke past a defender.
Hate to see this! Almost certainly is a torn ACL for Alabama WR Jameson Williams…You can actually see the shift of tibia forward & back. https://t.co/PBtJQ9S3lC
No one can predict what might have been had Williams stayed in the game, but it was obvious his absence was felt by the Alabama team. The Crimson Tide have now gone on to lose three and win three of the last seven College Football National Championship games.
Nick Saban says Jameson Williams had a knee injury. Also said he wanted to play in the second half, but the medical staff wouldn’t let him. Said he had a future they needed to worry about.