Fox Sports' Joel Klatt names Alabama starters as top 10 college football players for 2025

USA Today

6 days ago

Fox Sports lead analyst and commentator Joel Klatt recently ranked his top 10 college football players entering the 2025 season.
Two Alabama Crimson Tide starters landed in Klatt's top 10 players list. Offensive tackle Kadyn Proctor was ranked No. 9 in the nation, one spot below Clemson Tigers defensive end T.J. Parker.
Klatt called Proctor the best offensive lineman in the country on the Monday edition of his podcast, "The Joel Klatt Show: A College Football Podcast":
"Proctor has been a mainstay at 'Bama since he stepped foot on campus. This guy has been excellent since day one, has started since day one at Alabama. I thought he really came into his own last year. I remember preparing for the (Wisconsin game). I was just really impressed with him, and he hadn't even really, I would say, matured into the great player that I felt like he was when analyzing some of his film from late in the year."
Klatt listed what he sees as Proctor's biggest strengths as a player.
"Great in pass protection, he can be absolutely dominant in the run game, and he is a massive player," Klatt said of the 6'7, 366-pound Proctor. "You might not hear his name a lot, but I'm here to tell you that I think he's one of the best 10 players in the country for 2025."
Another Alabama player that made Klatt's top 10 list checked in at No. 5. The nod went to wide receiver Ryan Williams, who had a sensational season as a true freshman a year ago and led the Crimson Tide with 865 receiving yards (18.0 AVG) and eight touchdowns.
Klatt said that Williams' 2024 season was one of the best he had ever seen by a true freshman before putting the star receiver's accomplishments at 17 years old into perspective:
"Ryan Williams, now 18 years old going into his sophomore season, was a First Team All-SEC player as a 17-year-old, which is just wild to think of with a conference so deep that's been so good for so long. And to come in and be as dominant as he was, to make the types of plays that he did. The 75-yard touchdown against Georgia, it's one of the plays of the year. He finished with 177 yards that night."
Klatt praised Williams for being "sure-handed and electric," while having elite body control.
"(It's) the way that he can, as a young player, understand his position on the field and also where he's at in relation to the defender. His body control, yes, but it's more his spatial awareness. How many times were you able to see Ryan Williams understand his spatial awareness when the ball was still in the air, and he was slowing himself down or turning himself in a fashion where either he could absorb the hit or he was putting himself in a better position to make a move after the catch?
"Ryan Williams, man, he's one of my favorite players to watch. These young wide receivers are better than they've ever been. He and Jeremiah Smith... as good a young combination of wide receivers that I have ever seen."
Alabama football schedule 2025
Alabama opens the 2025 season against Florida State at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee on Aug. 30. Kickoff is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. CT. The game will be televised on ABC.
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