The Detroit Lions are 3-1. Right now, they have an offense that rolls out an elite wide receiver in Amon-Ra St. Brown, an emerging rookie tight end in Sam LaPorta, exciting and dependable running backs in Jamyr Gibbs and David Montgomery, and a competent–if not flashy–quarterback in Jared Goff. Now, they’re about to add a guy who many experts thought was the best receiver in the 2022 draft, Jameson Williams–and there’s a good chance he’s on your Week 5 waiver wire.
After lighting the college game on fire with 79 catches for 1572 yards and 15 touchdowns in 2021, Williams, the second-year pro out of Alabama, was only active for six games last season—spending the bulk of the year recovering from an ACL injury he suffered in the College Football Playoff.
In his short rookie stint, he only managed one catch on nine targets–a 41-yard touchdown— a stat line that did not impress his coaches.
“I hoped it would click just a little bit faster than it has, I think we all have,” Lions OC Ben Johnson said about Williams. “But it takes time sometimes, and we’re not losing faith. We’re going to keep pressing it, and it’ll end up clicking at some point. He’ll have a big game and be like, ‘OK, that’s why. That’s why we took him where we took him.’ And that’s why he can help us so much.”
Finally healthy, Williams was set to bring his incredible speed to the table to help this already potent Lions offense… and then he got suspended for gambling.
Basically, Williams bet on a non-NFL game from an NFL facility. I’m not 100% sure what that means, but he might have bet on a basketball game on his phone in the locker room. I won’t get into it too much, but in my opinion, that shouldn’t even be illegal. He got a six-game suspension for that, which was later reduced to four, and now he’s about to be welcomed back to the fold.
So, why does this matter? Jameson Williams will give the Lions a speed threat that could leave defenses scrambling as they decide whom amongst the Detroit weapons they can double team and who they can try to take a chance going man to man with. Williams is a legit speed demon who says if he had run in the NFL Combine, he would have run “the fastest 40 ever.” Imagining adding a talent like that to a Detroit offense that’s already firing on all cylinders is a scary prospect for the league.
Veteran Josh Reynolds is currently acting as the Lions’ WR2 behind St. Brown. He has been steady, and did have an exciting two-touchdown game against the Seahawks a couple of weeks ago–but Williams has the potential to be a different kind of animal.
As of the time of this writing, Williams is 32% owned in fantasy leagues, with that number set to spike as waivers are put in on Tuesday night. Right now, without even taking the field, The Wolf has Williams ranked 125 overall on his 2023 Rest of Season Big Board (30 or more spots higher than the so-called experts), and at the top of his waiver wire wish list for the week.
Of course, there will always be uncertainty with a player who has seen so little NFL field time upon his return. Jameson Williams, however, would seem to be worth the gamble. (pun intended)
