30 best Alabama football players to play for Nick Saban

Best Alabama football players under Nick Saban: 9. Quinnen Williams

The bread and butter of Alabama’s greatness start in the front seven, and the catalyst of greatness in the front seven during his tenure was Quinnen Williams. Williams is one of Saban’s best jobs recruiting because the mammoth defensive tackle was committed to Alabama’s biggest rival in Auburn. He flipped him in June of 2015, and the rest is history.

After redshirting his first year, Williams was an immediate impact on the Alabama defensive line. He played in all 14 games his freshman year, including recording two tackles in the National Championship win against Georgia. In his second season, he became the starting nose tackle for the Crimson Tide.

In 2018, he put together one of the best defensive lineman seasons under Saban. He won the Outland Trophy, given to the best interior lineman on either side of the ball, as well as being a unanimous All-American. He was also a finalist for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy and Bednarik Award after posting 71 tackles, 19.5 tackles for loss, and 8.0 sacks. This is all coming from the interior of the offensive line where he’s facing double teams on every single play.

Williams was one of the best when it came to breaking through the offensive line. It didn’t matter that he was almost 300 lbs, he would use his surprising speed and immense power to get through some of the best offensive linemen in the country. Williams was always fighting, and he eventually made his way as the third-overall pick in the NFL Draft.