What Ryan Williams continues to take from Julio Jones Alabama football film

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Ryan Williams and Julio Jones are not built in the same way. Williams, the Alabama football sophomore wide receiver, stands at 6 feet, 178 pounds. Jones, the Crimson Tide legend, is three inches taller and at least 42 pounds heavier.

But when Williams had the opportunity to pick Jones’ brain after Alabama‘s 20-9 win against LSU Saturday, Nov. 8, he took it, talking through “a couple basic things” with his routes and what to do when the ball is in the air.

While the two are built differently, Williams still looks up to Jones.

“1,000% yeah. My whole life,” Williams said when asked if he grew up watching Jones, a receiver Williams has gotten to know through the recruiting process and, now, with Alabama.

Williams may not have the physical build of Jones, who finished his Alabama career with 2,653 receiving yards and 15 touchdowns. But that’s not the aspect of Jones’ game Williams aims to emulate.

“Definitely his physicality and his mentality on each individual play,” Williams said. “He plays like it’s his last play every play. You can definitely tell he loves football. And just continuing to have the attitude of gratitude day in and day out. And you just see it on the film. You can’t wipe that away. When you turn on his tape, it’s like you can’t miss it.”

Alabama takes on Oklahoma at 2:30 p.m. CT Saturday, Nov. 15 at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

Colin Gay covers Alabama football for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at cgay@gannett.com or follow him @_ColinGay on X, formerly known as Twitter. 

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: What Ryan Williams continues to take from Julio Jones Alabama football film

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