What Was Ryan Williams' Initial Reaction to Jaylen Mbakwe's Position Switch?

The Crimson Tide wide receiver thought it was a "joke" when the former cornerback first approached him about making the massive change.

Alabama freshmen Ryan Williams and Jaylen Mbakwe | Obtained from Jaylen Mbakwe's X/Twitter

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama football had over 20 players enter the transfer portal following last season, but none were as surprising as cornerback Jaylen Mbakwe.

Mbakwe announced on December 16 that he would head into the portal, but then he changed his mind the next day. Shortly after, he switched positions from defensive back—where he had a large impact in the rotation last season as a true freshman—to wide receiver.

Crimson Tide wide receiver Ryan Williams, who has known Mbakwe since high school, detailed the initial discussion of Mbakwe's position switch at Alabama Media Day on Monday.

"1,000 percent [we talked about it]. It was always a joke at first, but then it actually happened," Williams said. "Now I can just be in the slot while he's on the outside and vice versa and it's super exciting."

A strong argument could be made that Mbakwe is the most athletic player on the roster, but the former 5-star recruit will continue to have all eyes on him during fall camp to capture the transition.

Mbakwe played both wide receiver and cornerback at Clay-Chalkville High School. He faced Williams in the 2023 AHSAA Class 6A state championship game and won 31-28 in Bryant-Denny Stadium. Mbakwe shined in that game at multiple positions and Williams has "no doubt" that "he's going to make a lot of plays" as an Alabama receiver as well.

Williams backed this up by discussing Mbakwe's transition during practice.

"It's been super smooth," Williams said. "I've seen him grow a lot just from bowl prep in January to now. It's been almost night and day. It felt like it wasn't that long ago, and truth be told, it really wasn't. He's grown so much as a player and I'm super proud of him."

Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer said on Sunday that Mbakwe has "made some nice plays" during the summer and fall camp, and wide receivers coach JaMarcus Shephard shared his insight on one of his newest members of the unit on Monday.

"I absolutely love Jaylen Mbakwe," Shephard said. "His presence is amazing. He's always got a positive attitude. I don't think this guy has had a bad day since he transitioned into my room. He's truly had a positive upbeat spirit every single day and I can't say that that's been any different than how he's been any other day.

"I just appreciate it manifesting itself in my specific room. There's going to be negatives and there's going to be positives, but he takes every one of those situations as a learning experience."