Alabama's 'bowling ball' is ready for his opportunity to strike

There’s serenity in the 2.5 seconds it takes a bowling ball to roll down the lane. Once put into motion, the object remains steadily on its path, building momentum toward its final destination. Then, when it has reached its zenith, it announces its arrival with a bang, knocking down anything standing in its way.

When Roydell Williams wants to let off some steam, he often finds himself at his local bowling alley. The family hobby has long been a go-to for the Alabama back, who has made a name for himself knocking over defenders in a similar fashion.

“Bowling’s his thing,” said Leonard Stephens, Williams’ longtime trainer and owner of Step-By-Step Performance in Birmingham, Ala. “Nobody can beat him. Like, he shoots so high that even the second place person is not even close to touching his score. He's very competitive with it, to the point where we've even discussed when he comes back, we’re going to go out and bowl. We’ve been talking a little trash, so we’ll have to see the next time he comes back or I go to Tuscaloosa.”

Stephens isn’t expecting to come away victorious whenever this meeting takes place. For one, he doesn’t share the Alabama back’s skill on the lanes. He’s also learned that when Williams says he’s going to do something, it gets done.

Williams signed with his home-state Crimson Tide after piling up 5,929 yards and 84 touchdowns on the ground over four seasons at Hueytown High School. However, the former Rivals100 back experienced a quiet first season with Alabama last year, carrying the ball just 19 times for 71 yards and a touchdown while sharing a backfield with Doak Walker Award winner Najee Harris as well as current starter Brian Robinson Jr.

Even after Harris was selected in the first round of the NFL Draft this spring, Williams still found himself as a somewhat forgotten figure in Alabama’s running backs room as Robinson and sophomore Jase McClellan soaked up most of the offseason spotlight. That only fueled the Hueytown native to work even harder.

As has been the case since his high school days, Williams spent the offseason working with Stephens. Fashioned with a 50-pound weighted vest, the Alabama back sweated out two-hour training sessions four days a week over the summer as the two focused on adding more agility and explosion on his runs.

“He’s pretty intense with it,” Stephens said. “His attention to detail was on another level. If we were doing a drill and he didn’t have a perfect foot placement, he’d stop it immediately without me saying anything and we’d have to start over.

“His approach was to do whatever it took to accomplish everything [Alabama] wanted him to get done. He just made sure he aligned himself to be able to take advantage of any opportunity that came his way.”

Halfway through his sophomore campaign, that opportunity is finally beginning to open up. After starting the season as Alabama’s fourth option out of the backfield, Williams now finds himself as the primary backup to Robinson following McClellan’s season-ending knee injury two weeks ago.

Through six games, Williams has rushed for 157 yards and a touchdown while averaging a team-high 6.04 yards per carry. He also has two receptions for 28 yards, including a 20-yard touchdown catch during last week’s game against Texas A&M.

“He brings a different type of spark,” Robinson said. “He comes in, he doesn’t have the size that I have but he’s just as physical. He has speed, he’s aggressive and there’s no fall-off if you put him in the game he’ll come in the game. He’ll run the ball hard, he’ll catch the ball out of the backfield and he’ll do it fast and he’ll do it physical.”

Robinson previously described Williams as a “small bowling ball” due to his ability to steamroll defenders during runs. Hueytown head coach Greg Patterson likes that comparison, stating that he remembers having to get onto the 5-foot-10, 208-pound back for seeking out contact on carries rather than simply outrunning his opponents.

“I’m old school, so I still like to see a little of that,” Patterson chuckled. “But I enjoyed giving him a hard time like, ‘Hey man, you could have just scored a touchdown. You didn’t have to just try to punish everybody out there.’

“He’s not as tall or big as Brian Robinson or Derrick Henry, but he’s a really tough runner between the tackles. He was pound-for-pound probably the strongest kid in our weight room three out of the four years he was here. He’s like touching a brick wall. I bet his body fat percentage is less than 2%. He packs a pounding.”

Texas A&M defensive back Jaylon Jones learned that the hard way when he attempted to lower his shoulder against Williams at the 1-yard line last weekend. Jones ended up on his backside following the play while Williams bowled his way into the end zone.

“He finishes all the runs at practice and it’s always a challenge just to thud him up in practice because he’s just such a hard runner,” Alabama defensive back Malachi Moore said last week. “He always tries to finish in everything that he does.”

Williams’ offseason preparations exceeded past the football field as Stephens said the sophomore could usually be found with his nose in the playbook during his time away from training. That dedication hasn’t gone unnoticed by his teammates this fall.

“Roydell is someone who’s always working hard in the weight room, always working hard in practice, always finishing every rep and I think that really shows,” Alabama quarterback Bryce Young said last month. “You can tell that hard-working attitude he has and the positivity he brings to the team, it really translates on the field."

Added Robinson: “Throughout the weeks of practices, just seeing how hard he competes and in the meeting room how much he’s learning and how much he understands of the game and plan and what we’re trying to accomplish so it just helps me build more confidence in Roydell.”

Williams recorded a career-high 110 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries against Southern Miss in Week 4 while Robinson sat out due to a rib injury. However, since Robinson’s return, the starter has received 60 of Alabama’s 72 carries (83.3 percent) over the past two games.

Still, Williams' brief moments of brilliance haven't gone unnoticed by his head coach. When asked about the running back unit this week, Nick Saban said the plan is to continue feeding Robinson while also looking to “utilize the talents of the other players, maybe more and more as we go on.”

Until then, don’t expect any complaints from Williams. The sophomore is currently at peace staying in his lane, readying himself for his next opportunity to strike.

“It's kinda like bowling,” Stephens said. “When it comes down to the bowling, he's not worried about what position he's in, if he’s second or third. He's just coming in every day doing his job and trying to do it at the highest level possible. And eventually, his time will come and he will come out on top.”