Breaking:wins in an Alabama football footrace: Ryan Williams or Rico Scott? ‘He ain’t faster than me’

Ryan Williams spent Alabama football media day in campaign mode.

The Crimson Tide sophomore wide receiver heard what Germie Bernard said about Rico Scott, the redshirt freshman wide receiver who “ran 23 miles per hour, 23.5” this offseason. Williams initially gave Scott credit. But not too much.

“Oh he fast,” Williams said. “He ain’t faster than me, though.”

David Ballou clarified the Williams vs. Scott speed talk. But the Alabama director of sports performance first set some ground rules.

First, the Crimson Tide only tracks times if a player sets it multiple times. Ballou confirmed Scott ran 23.5 mph, but only once. Scott hit 23.4 mph multiple times, Ballou said.

Now comparing Scott to Williams specifically, Ballou began the hypothetical race with explaining the difference between “competitive speed” and, simply, “speed.”

“If I lined Rico, and I lined Ryan up on the goal line and said, ‘Sprint,’ and they are going to run 50 yards and see who wins, I don’t know who I’m putting my money on,” Ballou said. But that is not the speed Ballou is looking for.

Williams, Ballou said, ran just under 23 mph “in full pads.” Scott’s speed of 23.4 mph came “in training.”

“Now you have to do it on the football field with the ball in your hands,” Ballou said. “That’s another thing. And he knows that.”