A man among boys.

Except that man is 17-year-old Ryan Williams and these guys are on the SEC defense.

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He’s terrorizing the best conference in college football when he should still be terrorizing the opponents of Saraland High School in Mobile, Alabama.

Technically he’s still terrorizing the defensive backs at Alabama State, it’s just that the game was in Tuscaloosa at Bryant-Denny Stadium instead of Spartan Stadium in Mobile.

Bad news for Alabama’s opponents, but great news for Saraland’s.

Williams decided to forego his senior year of high school to join Jalen Milroe and first-year head coach Karen DeBoer in Tuscaloosa this season, and the results for the true freshman were stunning.

He leads the seventh-ranked Crimson Tide with 23 catches for 576 yards and six touchdowns. His 25-yard reception average leads the entire FBS.

Once again, only 17 years old.

During his time at Saraland, Williams, the only two-time Mr. Football in Alabama history, recorded more than 4,400 yards of total offense and scored 76 touchdowns in 39 games – 47 receiving, 24 rushing, 1 passing and 4 punting -Yards The kick returns.

It’s safe to say that he had accomplished everything there was to achieve at the high school level. He didn’t need a senior year.

The craziest part of the Williams story may not even be that he dominated the SEC before he was of age, but that he happened to end up as a wide receiver.

Williams was originally scheduled to play quarterback in his first year at Saraland, but that changed when assistant coach Brett Boutwell watched William run routes and catch passes from his office window a day after practice.

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The rest was history.

“Coach Boutwell looked out there and said, ‘Hey, we’ve got to give Ryan a chance,'” Saraland High coach Jeff Kelly told ESPN.

“He had something special by nature. He was 14 years old and playing against 17 and 18 year olds. He made some big plays in the second half of the season and in the playoffs.”

“If they hadn’t stayed after practice that day and gotten those extra reps, he might have been a ninth-grade quarterback that year. I don’t know it. We kind of stumbled into it.”

Stumbling across one of the best high school receivers of all time is a huge blessing.

What’s not lucky is that Williams is already one of the best college wide receivers in the country before he even gets to vote.

That’s all the hard work he put in, even at such a young age.

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“We knew he was more elite than any other high school player he competed against,” Barnett said.

“He’s getting to the (college) level, and you think that might balance out a little bit, especially at his age. Watching him do the same things to high school kids at 17 really surprises me.”

Things haven’t evened out for Williams yet, not even in the slightest.