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With the 2022 NFL Draft in the rearview mirror, it's time to think about how various rookies are going to fit with their new teams.
The Detroit Lions used the 12th pick in this year's draft on Alabama wide receiver Jameson Williams, making him the fourth receiver to go off of the board, following Drake London, Garrett Wilson, and Chris Olave.
Williams tore his ACL in his final college game, so his rookie season outlook is complicated by that fact. Will he be ready to go this season?
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Jameson Williams College Production
Williams played three seasons in college, splitting time between Ohio State and Alabama. But in Ohio State's crowded receiving corps, Williams never really did much, catching 15 passes in two seasons. In 2020, he finished sixth on the team in receptions. It's hard to make an impact when you have Olave and Wilson ahead of you.
But at Alabama, Williams had a chance to shine.
Last season, he caught 79 passes for 1,572 yards and 15 touchdowns. He led the SEC in receiving yards and was fifth in the country. He also contributed on kick returns, with a pair of touchdowns and the fifth-most kick return yards in the conference. Williams was the kind of weapon that Alabama could use everywhere thanks to his elite speed.
Jameson Williams's Measurables
Williams wasn't able to compete at the NFL Combine because of his ACL injury, so we don't have official workout metrics from him. Though, Williams did say that he would have done really well running the 40:
And honestly, yeah...I don't think he would have broken the record, but he would have run an extremely impressive 40. There are reports he ran a 4.39 at Alabama, which wouldn't be the fastest ever but it would have been around where Wilson and Olave ran. He likely would have been faster in an actual Combine run.
As for his other measurables, Williams ranks in the 60th percentile, per MockDraftable, in height and the seventh percentile in weight. His frame is definitely a concern, but we've seen thin receivers like Williams have NFL success. Williams is at 179 pounds. Receivers who were within five pounds of that weight pre-draft include Darnell Mooney, Elijah Moore, John Brown, Peerless Price, Jaylen Waddle, Santana Moss, Tyler Lockett, T.Y. Hilton, Diontae Johnson, and Steve Smith Sr.
Williams's Strengths and Weaknesses
Strength is easy here: Jameson Williams is very fast.
The Georgia defense is incredibly good and Williams jogged through it like someone had turned his sliders up in Madden. That's what happens when you try to defend against him in this kind of zone look: if he gets into an open spot in the defense and the ball gets to him, he'll explode.
Assuming he returns fine from his knee injury, Williams projects to be someone who can blow the lid off of an NFL defense. I mean:
Obviously, NFL defenses have more speed than college defenses. Williams won't just blow by everyone. But he does possess the ability to get behind a whole lot of defensive backs. Teams will need to keep a safety high to defend against Williams going over the top, which should open things up for other players in this offense.
In terms of potential weaknesses at the next level, the frame is a concern. We know that Williams can make plays down the field, but will he have the body strength to win at the line of scrimmage? Will defenders be able to jam him up early, preventing him from getting down the field?
Williams also had six drops last season.
His Fit With The Lions
The Lions had a need at receiver, but was Williams the right kind of receiver for them?
Short term...I don't know. The Lions have Jared Goff at quarterback, who definitely isn't known for his deep ball. Last year, his 40 deep ball attempts ranked 27th among quarterbacks, per PlayerProfiler. He was 33rd in air yards per attempt and 24th in deep-ball completion percentage.
That's worrisome. Of course, roster context matters, and the Lions have some question marks at receiver. Rookie Amon-Ra St. Brown saw 119 targets to lead the team, but second and third in targets were tight end T.J. Hockenson and running back D'Andre Swift. Kalif Raymond was the only other player with more than 40 targets. Goff didn't do a lot of deep throwing, but he also didn't have the personnel to do a lot of deep throwing.
But even when Goff was playing in a better spot for passing, the numbers weren't there. In his final year with the Rams, he was 19th in deep-ball attempts. The last time he was actively throwing deep a lot was in 2018 when he was eighth in deep ball attempts and fifth in air yards. That was a while ago and considering how the rest of his career has gone, I think it's fair to worry about how a downfield threat like Williams fits in an offense that's helmed by Goff.
And while that might not be a long-term concern—the Lions are 100% taking a QB at the top of the 2023 NFL Draft—it's a pretty big concern when we're discussing Williams in terms of redraft.
Jameson Williams Fantasy Football Outlook
So, what should we expect from Williams in fantasy this year?
First, there's the injury concern. ACL tears usually take eight months or so to return from. If he's ahead of schedule, he could be ready by July, but that would be incredibly optimistic. Instead, I think it's more likely that Williams ends up missing some regular-season games while he gets back into playing shape. I wouldn't be shocked at all to see Williams miss the first three or four weeks.
After that, he'll need to figure out his place in this system. The injury rehab will likely put him behind schedule in that phase of the game, so expect his offensive involvement over the first few weeks once he returns to be inconsistent.
And, of course, there's the weird fit of Williams in a Goff-led offense that we talked about above—another definite concern for his fantasy value.
Once he's on the field and has gained some of the offense's trust, Williams will be the most talented receiver on this team, but he'll still be splitting targets with St. Brown and Hockenson on an offense that won't throw the ball a ton. He'd probably be a WR3/4 play on a weekly basis over the second half of the season, with the possibility of a couple of big games due to some breakaway yards after the catch.
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