By BJ Bennett
SouthernPigskin.com

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Simply put, Jameson Williams is college football’s best playmaker.

Even, maybe even especially, in a game with a number of the nation’s best defenders, Alabama wide receiver and specialist Jameson Williams might be the player to watch in Saturday’s SEC Championship Game. Not only does he lead the conference with 1,261 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns, Williams paces all of college football, of players with at least 60 receptions with 20.67 yards per reception. He, counting kick return yards, leads the country with 22.3 yards per play.

Simply put, Williams is college football’s best playmaker.

Ejected during the Iron Bowl for targeting while tackling on a punt return, Williams, in Alabama’s three games prior to Auburn, had 24 receptions for 508 yards and seven touchdowns. With his scores from those three games alone, Williams would still rank in the top ten in the SEC. He has been on a truly historic pace the second half of this season; in a half-regular season’s worth of games, six contests from Texas A&M to Arkansas, Williams caught 42 passes for 854 yards and ten touchdowns.

The production Williams currently has, even before the SEC Championship Game and, potentially, the College Football Playoff, has him in historic company. Only seven receivers this millennium, Hakeem Butler, Ja’Marr Chase, Lee Evans, CeeDee Lamb, Snoop Minnis, James Washington and Roddy White, have finished a season with Williams’ current minimums of 1,260, 13 touchdowns and 20.6 yards per catch. None of them had a kickoff return for a touchdown; Williams has two.

Facing one of the best defenses the modern game has ever seen, it’s likely Alabama will need multiple chunk plays to move the football. Georgia has allowed the fewest conversions of 20 yards or more in the country with just 24; for context, Cincinnati, second in that category, has given up 33. If big plays are your goal, and they should be for the Crimson Tide, Williams is your guy. He is tied for Power Five lead in receptions of 20 yards or more. Williams also has two kick returns for touchdown of over 80 yards good for measure.

Saturday’s SEC Championship Game will be a national showcase; Williams could and should have a starring role.