Ohio State receiver transferring to Alabama

News broke last week the receiver had entered the transfer portal, and he quickly found a new home at another perennial College Football Playoff participant.

A junior-to-be from St. Louis, Mo., Williams was a starting wide receiver for Ohio State last season when he caught nine passes for 154 yards and two touchdowns.

A speedster listed at 6-foot-2, 189 pounds, Williams was a four-star recruit in the 2019 class and the top-rated player in the state of Missouri.

He was the No 13 receiver in the country per 247Sports Composite rankings and rated the No. 82 player overall in the country.

Although he was upbeat when he met with reporters via video conference in April, Williams appeared to be the odd man out in a reshuffling of the starting lineup during spring practice.

Classmate Garrett Wilson moved from the slot to X receiver while sophomore-to-be Jaxon Smith-Njigba replaced him at slot with senior-to-be Chris Olave holding down the Z spot.

Coach Brian Hartline figures to rotate at least six players to keep everyone fresh, so there is little doubt plenty of snaps still would have been available for Williams, but he became the second highly regarded OSU receiver to enter the portal this year. The first was fellow St. Louis native Mookie Cooper, who transferred to Missouri in January after one season in Columbus.

Despite losing those two, Ohio State still has an embarrassment of riches at receiver, where coach Brian Hartline has put together perhaps the top class in the country in back-to-back years.

Ohio State still has four five-star receivers and four four-stars on the roster. That does not include Olave, who was a three-star prospect and has blossomed into an All-Big Ten performer.

True freshmen Marvin Harrison Jr. and Emeka Egbuka both flashed in the spring game while Hartline had high praise for sophomore-to-be Julian Fleming, who is recovering from shoulder surgery.

While Ohio State returns the All-Big Ten duo of Wilson and Olave, Alabama has to replace Heisman Trophy winning receiver DeVonta Smith. He and Jaylen Waddle, who missed most of last season with an injury but was considered one of the top receivers in the country entering the year, were both picked in the first round of the NFL Draft last week.