The time for unhinged bluster about the next great football talent has arrived. Mid-February, here we are. The apex of one recruiting cycle sets the benchmark for what the next wave can and should do.

Last year's studs have lost some of that new car shine, at least outside Alabama's football complex. That's why Jonathan Allen's response to a question about the next great Crimson Tide defensive lineman raised an eyebrow.

Remember Quinnen Williams?

The four-star 2016 signee had a quiet rookie year redshirting behind NFL talent. The biggest news he made was winning a cannonball contest with fellow defensive lineman Raekwon Davis in January.

Coaches and teammates explained what was going on behind the curtain. By most accounts, the Wenonah High School graduate was being groomed as Allen's successor as Alabama restocks arguably its best front seven in program history.

"Quinnen Williams. That's the guy you need to know," said Allen, the national defensive player of the year projected among the top 2017 draft picks. "He's going to be a baller. He's going to be a beast."

Allen threw out four quick reasons to watch Williams. Tenacity. Toughness. Gritty. And he's mean.

Williams didn't come to Alabama as the bell cow of the nation's No. 1 recruiting class. He had the 12th highest rating of the Tide signees last February. Among defensive tackles, the Birmingham product was 16th.

That said, there wasn't an intense spotlight on Williams for his first year in Tuscaloosa.

Alabama defensive line coach Karl Dunbar described his young tackle as quiet.

"I think he's real smart and he does a great job in terms of paying attention and learning what we have to do," Dunbar said. "And he practices hard as heck. He goes out there and has a really good drive. And that's why I see him getting better. We are doing pass rush drills against the first- and second-team offense and you see this kid working.

"He's been a pleasant surprise."

Alabama Football Profile - Quinnen Williams 15 Gallery: Alabama Football Profile - Quinnen Williams

Of the 13 game weeks leading up to the Peach Bowl, Dunbar estimated Williams was a scout team player of the week 10 times. Success in that realm is traditionally a pipeline for production outside of rehearsals moving forward.

He's also added some mass.

Arriving at 265 pounds, Williams said he was up to 297 in late December. As a recruit, Williams heard he played like Da'Shawn Hand.

"But as I got bigger, I started to get compared to Jonathan Allen," Williams said. "It really fit me because the way Jonathan Allen plays, I play the same way."

So, to hear Allen didn't hesitate identifying him as the next defensive line great meant a lot to the redshirt freshman.

"Jonathan Allen just basically took me up under his wing and taught me everything he knows," Williams said, "so I can be just like him or even better than him."

That's no small statement.

Allen graduated as perhaps the most decorated defender in a program traditionally built on defense. He won four national awards while being named unanimous All-American as a senior. Unlike Williams, Allen played all 13 games as a true freshman on a defensive line not quite as stacked as the 2016 edition.

Redshirting wasn't necessarily the original plan, but Williams said he wasn't bothered by it.

Being the understudy for Allen meant considerable time lining up across from another likely first-round pick in practice.

"Being on scout team, going against Cam Robinson every play, he really helped me also," Williams said. "So, I want to thank Cam Robinson for coming off on me hard and really giving me extra work because he's going to be the No. 1 tackle coming out. So, if I'm getting extra work on the No. 1 tackle, that means I could be potentially basically beating every tackle there is."

Williams reported "sometimes" beating Robinson, the top-ranked left tackle in the upcoming draft.

Recently graduated outside linebacker Ryan Anderson called Williams "a monster" whose style resembles Allen.

"Oh, he's a tough player," Anderson said. "I feel like he's technically sound. I feel like he's going to step up and be a big player next year. I see flashes a lot. When I see him on the practice field, he flashes a lot."

And that's about to pick up again.

Spring practice is about a month away as Alabama fills the void left by Allen and fellow starter Dalvin Tomlinson. With depth a concern, the Tide also added top junior college defensive end Isaiah Buggs. The 6-foot-5, 290 pounder from Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, which also produced Terrence Cody, is enrolled for spring practice.

Williams knows the plan when the pads go on in March.

"Really just perform. Just get out there, don't be nervous," he said. "Don't be second guessing myself. Just do what Jonathan Allen did. Jonathan Allen gets out there and just goes full throttle every play, full speed every play. I just feel like I can do the same thing."

And that's no small responsibility when you consider what Allen did in his four Alabama seasons.

It also takes Williams out of the shadows and straight into the limelight in the next incarnation of Alabama's defensive line.

He's cool with that.

"It's not really pressure with me. It's confidence," Williams said. "Jonathan Allen, I don't really look at him like the best defensive lineman in the world. I just look at him like another football player that's grinding every day and working every day and he never lets up. I want to be the same way.

If I take the way Jonathan Allen is going and the positive things he's doing, I look at myself one day being in the same shoes he's in now."