Justin Fields on Jameson Williams' lack of playing time at Ohio State: 'They were playing with Jamo'

One of the more famous moves in the NCAA transfer portal era was Jameson Williams leaving Ohio State for Alabama. Williams broke out during his one season in Tuscaloosa, exploding for 1,572 yards and 15 touchdowns. At the time, everyone was wondering why Williams did not work with the Buckeyes.

Justin Fields gave us a peek behind the curtain a bit, saying Williams was used by Ohio State coaches to get other receivers open. Even if there were no performance-based numbers to prove how dangerous Williams was, opposing teams had to respect his speed and ability.

Having Williams run over the top meant Ohio State’s other stud receivers would get open, leading to a ton of success.

“They were playing with Jamo, I’m not going to cap,” Field said via the St. Brown Podcast. “They were playing with Jamo… Jamo would be like the first read on, really, mostly run-off routes. Like a post where you got to post a high cross. He’s the run-off guy to get Garrett (Wilson) or Chris (Olave) open, basically… He’s the alert vs. quarters coverage or something like that.”

Williams spent two seasons catching balls from Fields in Columbus. In 19 games with Ohio State, he had just 15 receptions but for 266 yards and three touchdowns. An average of 17.7 yards per reception was incredible production for just a small sample size.

Olave wound up being Ohio State’s leading receiver in both 2019 and 2020. There were two College Football Playoff appearances in there too, with the Buckeyes going 1-2 overall. Fields, Olave, Williams, and Wilson were all on the wrong side of a national championship game vs. Alabama.

Not too long later, Williams was wearing a Crimson Tide jersey. He broke out alongside John Metchie with Bryce Young as the quarterback. Fields was happy to see his former teammate find success, something that eventually turned him into a first-round pick of the Detroit Lions.

“They really wasn’t messing with Jamo but I’m glad he left,” Fields said. “He went crazy at Bama.”

Williams did, in fact, go crazy at Alabama. He was named a finalist for the Biletnikoff Award but the prize went to Jordan Addison.

Many in Tuscaloosa still wonder what would have happened against Georgia in the national championship had Williams not torn his ACL. Alabama certainly did not use him as a “run-off” guy to get other players the ball — he was the receiver.