Ryan Coleman-Williams Embraces High Expectations With New Name, Number

Few players entered the 2025 season with expectations as high as Ryan Coleman-Williams. Perhaps they were unfair, but the Alabama phenom missed the mark along with his Crimson Tide teammates. Now, armed with a slew of changes -- aesthetic, functional and legal -- the conversation surrounding his ceiling is beginning to return.

In this edition of our 2026 bounceback series, meet the new man hoping to prove what we saw in 2024 wasn't just a blip on the radar.

Perhaps you've noticed -- he's got a new name.

He's added Coleman, his mother's maiden name, after previewing the change on his eye black last season. His mother, Tiffany Coleman, is his self-described best friend, and he wanted his name to represent both sides of his family.

SEC post-spring overreactions: Alabama fueled by motivation, LSU built to meet CFP expectations Brad Crawford

He's also halved his jersey number, moving from No. 2 to No. 1.

"As far as my number, it's just an opportunity to have a hard reset," Coleman-Williams said. "Just make me feel like myself again, get ready for a season that doesn't disappoint."

Peers and pressure

Fair or not, Coleman-Wiliams' career up to this point has been measured against two things -- his own potential and his phenomenal peers.

> ABSOLUTE SCENES IN TUSCALOOSA!!! RYAN WILLIAMS WITH A 75-YARD TD TO RETAKE THE LEAD! pic.twitter.com/pvc9ML7E7G — SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) September 29, 2024

Williams burst onto the national radar with a spectacular 75-yard go-ahead against Georgia . The play permanently endeared him to the Crimson Tide fanbase and made him a national household name only four games into his college career. But it also saddled the freshman phenom with the burden of high expectations. One wonders how different his things might have gone to this point had that play never occurred. If he had been allowed to ease into his career as a normally developing talent.

A similar thing happened to former Auburn quarterback Bo Nix after his comeback win over Oregon in his first career start. It ultimately took a change in scenery for Nix to reestablish himself and become a future NFL starting quarterback. Expectations reach a point where it's impossible to rein them in, and the player is held to a standard he may not be able to consistently reach.

Coleman-Williams' second measuring stick is the generational group who entered college football alongside him -- headlined by Auburn's Cam Coleman and Ohio State's Jeremiah Smith . As Coleman-Williams' production tailed off during the second half of his freshman season, especially in the Crimson Tide's regular-season finale, where he was overshadowed by Coleman during their first Iron Bowl matchup. Meanwhile, Smith was an All-American and led his team to a national title.

Sophomore slump

Despite those shortfalls, Coleman-Williams finished his freshman year as the Crimson Tide's leader in receiving yards. In July 2025, he signed with Nike and appeared alongside Smith on the cover of EA College Football 26.

The hype was building, and all signs pointed to a breakout sophomore campaign, but the season got off to an inauspicious start when he was injured on a dropped pass against Florida State in Alabama's season-opening loss. After he returned, drops became the defining storyline of an underwhelming sophomore campaign.

A dropped would-be touchdown early in a return match against Georgia only amplified the criticism. Coleman-Williams finished the season with a 13.2% drop rate, fourth highest nationally. According to Pro Football Focus charting, his 10 drops ranked third in the country.

The issue became such a storyline that a minor social media firestorm erupted after he dropped a pass on camera during Ty Simpson's pro day in March.

Back to the lab

Armed with a new name and new number, Coleman Williams is ready to write an all-new chapter in his college football career -- and he's putting in the work to make it happen. He was listed at just 175 pounds for his first game with the Crimson Tide, though one source speculated he weighed even less than that. He weighed in at 182 pounds according to Alabama's spring roster, but he appears to be carrying the added weight much better.

A program source said, "He's so much bigger" when asked what stood out most about Coleman-Williams this offseason, adding that he is finally growing into his frame. This is where the obligatory reminder that he was only 17 years old as a freshman becomes relevant.

The added size should help him better withstand the week-to-week physical demands of the SEC while making him more difficult to defend through routes and at the catch point.

An Alabama staffer told CBS Sports that "he had a great spring," and everything appears aligned for Coleman-Williams to generate another wave of offseason hype entering 2026, even if it isn't quite at the fever pitch seen a year ago.

NFL evaluators haven't given up on him, either. CBS Sports' post-spring mock draft projects him as a late first-round pick, though significant improvement between now and next spring could send him soaring up draft boards.

"The spotlight is always on him and the way he handles it each and every day through hard work and gratitude and giving of his time to people," Kalen DeBoer said at SEC spring meetings, "knowing that he's a role model to many, I couldn't be more proud of this guy."

Alabama needs all the help it can get from its star receiver

Alabama also has what is becoming an increasingly rare commodity in major college football: a bona fide quarterback competition.

Neither Keelon Russell nor Austin Mack separated himself during the spring, though sources told CBS Sports that Russell is the slight favorite and possesses the higher ceiling.

With veterans Germie Bernard and Isiah Horton gone, Coleman-Williams might as well be considered the elder statesman of Alabama's receiver room.

Lotzeir Brooks flashed his potential against Oklahoma in the playoff, but remains largely unproven. Transfer Noah Rogers was unable to crack Ohio State's loaded receiver room in 2024 or establish himself as a true No. 1 option at NC State last season. Rogers is also expected to miss the start of the season after suffering an injury during Alabama's spring game.

Perhaps expecting another night like the one Coleman-Williams delivered against Georgia as a freshman is unfair. The new Coleman-Williams isn't trying to recreate one magical moment. He's trying to prove his success has staying power and that the changes he's made are worth it.

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_Originally reported by [CBS Sports](https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/ryan-coleman-williams-alabama-2026-bounceback/)._