Jameson Williams breaks down impact of Jace McClellan injury

Jameson Williams has been an important contributor for the Alabama offense so for this season. After joining the team via transfer from Ohio State, Williams has 17 receptions for 364 yards and three touchdowns on the season.

Williams will be out there for Alabama’s attempt at back to back championships, but unfortunately Jace McClellan will not. The running back was lost for the season with an injury suffered against Ole Miss.

During a press conference this week, Williams broke down the impact of McClellan’s injury.

“Jace was a contributor to the offense. I like his game,” said Williams. “One of my first times hearing of Jace was seeing him at practice — I’ll tell you what, Jace runs it pretty well. You just gotta next man up, you know how that goes.”

In addition to Brian Robinson shoulder the load, the next man up will be is Roydell Williams. While he’s showed he can handle, the loss of McClellan is one felt by every member of the Alabama offense.

Brian Robinson: ‘It’s our job to stay beside him and just keep him up.’

Before going down with his injury, McClellan had 28 yards on six rushing attempts. He also had an 11-yard reception. Once McClellan went down, Robinson got the ball even more on Alabama’s offense. It led to Robinson having a monster day, rushing for 171 yards and four touchdowns on 36 carries.

After the game, Robinson praised McClellan, saying that he has been a great contributor to Alabama’s offense.

“Jase has been contributing great to our offense,” Robinson stated. “He’s been doing a great job just playing a key role, playing his role to the best of his ability. Just talking to him after the game, just making sure he’s staying positive or whatever the situation may be. It’s our job to stay beside him and just keep him up and keep him motivated so that he can make a great return when he [does] come back.”

Evidently, McClellan made his impact on the Alabama offense — both on and off the field. Now, it’s up to Jameson Williams, Brian Robinson and everyone else on offense to help Jace McClellan return better than ever.

More on Roydell Williams

Jace McCellan’s absence will be felt on all levels of offense, but Roydell Williams is capable of handling the extra attention. In his press conference this week, Nick Saban spoke about William’s strengths.

“Roydell is a good back. He’s got good explosion, he can run behind his pads. He’s tough, he’s got speed and burst, a good receiver. We have a lot of confidence,” said Saban. “… he’ll be able to take on a bigger role now with the offense. We’re confident that he’s very capable of doing that.”

With more responsibility on his shoulders, we’ll see if Roydell Williams can handle the added pressure. Nick Saban doesn’t think it’ll be an issue.