Jameson

Williams

Williams scored on a 52-yard bomb to send the Lions to a 17-3 lead early in the third quarter before the Rams came clawing back to retake the lead with under five minutes left to play. The nine targets led the team for the first time in Williams’ three-year career, indicating the arrival of another primary option for an aggressive and efficient offense. Williams is sure to return more boom weeks in the future, although it remains unlikely he leads the team in targets in many games this season. He gets a solid on-paper matchup against the Buccaneers in Week 2.

Williams was getting hype as a breakout candidate all spring, with coach Dan Campbell saying at one point that he was “a man on a mission.” Another writer for The Athletic, Nick Baumgardner, said earlier that Williams “looks like a different player.” The Lions are in need of a third-year breakout from Williams, whose rookie campaign served as a redshirt season while he recovered from a torn ACL suffered in the national championship game. Last season, he served a four-game suspension for violating the league gambling policy and ended the year with an underwhelming 24-354-2 line in 12 games. Williams is an explosive playmaker who could benefit from operating in an offense that also includes weapons Amon-Ra St. Brown and Sam LaPorta. While he may be more of a boom-or-bust player in start/sit leagues, he has the ability to provide spike weeks at a moment’s notice, making him an enticing pick for best ball drafters.

Baumgardner said Williams, expected to finally function as a starter in Detroit’s offense, “looks stronger through the middle, more explosive with better body control in the air and near the sideline. If he had one hit the dirt today I didn’t see it.” He added that Williams “looks like a different player from a year ago today.” This is very much in line with feedback from Lions coaches, including Dan Campbell, who said in May that Williams is a “man on a mission” after two years of uneven performance. Williams is set to operate as the team’s primary deep threat like Sam LaPorta and Amon-Ra St. Brown eat up short area targets from Jared Goff.

Williams desperately needs a third-year leap after spending much of his rookie season recovering from a torn ACL and kicking off his second year with a six-game suspension for violating the league’s gambling policies. Williams played in 12 games last season, totaling 24 receptions for 354 yards and two scores while being targeted on 17.4 percent of his routes. The 6-foot-1 speedster is expected to be well behind Amon-Ra St. Brown and Sam LaPorta in the target pecking order but can add another element to a Lions’ passing game that has lacked a reliable WR2 during the Dan Campbell era. As far as fantasy is concerned, Williams could have fringe WR2/WR3 potential if he’s able to put everything together, making him a potential steal in drafts this summer.

Williams, who was suspended for the first month of the 2024 regular season, saw more playing time late in the year, seeing 25 targets over his final six games. His route participation steadily increased as the season progressed. Jared Goff’s refusal to throw downfield, as recently detailed by Rotoworld’s Denny Carter, could be a major hindrance to Williams’ fantasy prospects in the run-first Detroit offense. Williams, 22, will likely profile as a boom-bust fantasy option for as long as Goff is under center for the Lions, though more routes and intermediate targets could change his outlook.

Williams book-ended the scoring for the Lions, hitting the end zone on the team’s first and last possessions of their NFC Championship loss to the 49ers. The enigmatic second-year wide receiver largely disappointed after returning from a four-game suspension, managing just 6.7 PPR points per game across 12 games played in the regular season. Even so, the upside remains tantalizing, something that could propel his draft capital into the middle rounds for the 2024 season.

Williams caught a 24-yarder from Jared Goff in the first half, operating as an intermediate target rather than strictly a downfield threat. Though Josh Reynolds remains the clear WR2 in Detroit, Williams is seeing more snaps and pass routes in the postseason. That makes him an interesting if volatile DFS option next week against the Niners in the NFC title game.

Williams simply wasn’t needed on a night quarterback Jared Goff attempted just 27 passes, with the team instead leaning on the chain-moving ability of Josh Reynolds. Williams maintains a more boom-bust nature in fantasy circles but could find room in a plus matchup in the Divisional Round against either the Eagles or Buccaneers next week.

Raymond is dealing with a knee issue and faces an uphill climb to play in the Lions’ Wild Card game against the Rams. Raymond finished the regular season having played in every game, catching 35 passes for 489 yards and a touchdown. Jameson Williams (ankle) returned to practice Wednesday and would alleviate the Lions’ receiving corps with a potential Raymond absence, though tight end Sam LaPorta (knee) faces an uphill climb to play as well.

Williams is the only player of this group who carries any kind of fantasy relevance, but he was ruled out heading into the weekend. While the Lions have already secured a spot in the playoffs, a win over the Vikings could improve their seeding, giving them something to play for in the season finale.