Eli Drinkwitz trolls emphasis placed on Ryan Williams’ age: ‘Is he 17?’

Missouri is one of the most veteran teams in the SEC with 11 seniors in their starting lineup. But this weekend they’ll face the youngest player in college football who’s made a strong impact this season, Alabama true freshman wide receiver Ryan Williams.

Williams has garnered plenty of attention this season, which has more often than not come with a mention of him only being 17 years old. Those repeated mentions led to Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz making a joke when asked about the freshman phenom heading into Saturday’s game.

“Is he 17?” Drinkwitz asked sarcastically when Williams’ age was mentioned in a question. “It’s remarkable.”

Drinkwitz’s remark got a laugh out of the media as he also asked about Williams’ birthday. The Crimson Tide rookie turns 18 years old in February after reclassifying in high school and making the jump to the college level early. t’s a decision that was clearly the right one as Williams leads Alabama with 31 catches for 649 yards and seven touchdowns midway through his first college season.

Drinkwitz was also asked about what intangibles he believes Williams has that have allowed him to be so successful so early in his college career.

“I don’t know, if you’re 17 playing at this high a level — I mean special player, special talent obviously. I think aside from the size, ball skills, speed, quickness, agility, obviously attention to detail, obviously the ability to retain information,” Drinkwitz listed. “I think there’s just a competitive spirit about him that’s pretty impressive.”

The Tigers currently have the SEC’s second-best pass defense, but Williams has found a way to make plays against whoever has lined up across from him this season. He’s a player that will surely get plenty of attention from Mizzou’s defense.

“For him to make those plays specifically in Georgia, fade ball in the Tennessee game, there’s a competitive quality that he has that is special. I don’t know if age is that big of a factor when you have those kind of gifts,” Drinkwitz concluded.

Williams and No. 15 ranked Alabama host No. 21 Missouri this Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET in a game airing on ABC and streaming on Fubo.