Jameson Williams has officially arrived

Jameson Williams has officially arrived

It hasn’t been a typical trip and he’s had a few hiccups along the way, but it’s time to finally say it: Jameson Williams has arrived.

The third-year Detroit Lions receiver didn’t have much to offer after his first two years in the NFL. As expected, his first season was largely a redshirt, as he suffered a torn ACL a few months before he was drafted. His second year was largely characterized by early exits, his one-game suspension, and inconsistent chemistry with quarterback Jared Goff.

Looking ahead to 2024, several analysts pointed out that a breakout season in the third year is relatively unprecedented for a first-round wide receiver. In today’s NFL, you usually know after two seasons whether you have a goalie at wide receiver. Williams was a unique case, however, as he spent nearly half of his first two years either injured or suspended.

Lo and behold, 2024 was the year of Jameson Williams. The young receiver has never lacked drive and motivation, and with the 23-year-old receiver having been out for most of the season (with a two-game suspension adding even more adversity), he is on the verge of his first 1,000-yard season . Last week’s game against the Chicago Bears, in which he had five catches for a career-high 143 yards, put him within 110 yards of that milestone with two games to go.

“It was probably Jamo’s best game since he’s been here,” coach Dan Campbell said this week. “And I’m talking about both the run blocking and the passing game that everyone sees.”

And that’s the thing. Whenever anyone in the building talks about Williams, they’re quick to point out that his impact goes far beyond his 890 receiving yards (24th in the NFL) and his explosive playmaking ability (T-first in receptions over 50 yards with five). He has truly embraced the Lions philosophy of “no block, no stone.”

“He contributes a lot to our offense,” Amon-Ra St. Brown said. “Whether it’s in the run game — I don’t know if you see it a lot, but he puts his head in there and really makes key blocks for us. He’s not afraid to block (or dig out) a safety. So this is huge.”

Coaches have also talked all year about the “Jameson effect” — the impact having such a fast, explosive weapon on the field has on opposing defenses. Combine Williams’ ability to take over defenses with Detroit’s physical ground-and-pound running game, and opposing defenses find themselves in a difficult situation.

“I would say the Jameson effect is already playing out,” offensive coordinator Ben Johnson said in late September. “We made a big play for him in the first game and a big play for him in the second game, and last week you could tell early in the game that they weren’t going to allow him to get over the top. So we’ll see if this trend continues. I think our combination of vertical run game slash threats is a little unique.”

None of this happens without Williams and Goff seeing eye to eye. There were countless incidents in the first two years where Goff crashed Williams or Williams failed to reach the milestone Goff expected. Such incidents have become rare now, and the Lions quarterback praises Williams for his work ethic in working out these details.

“It’s really good what he’s done and that he can get better and improve every week and like you said, his maturity has grown and he’s trying really hard, he really does,” Goff said this week. “And he sets high standards for himself, and he wants to get better, and he wants to improve. He constantly communicates with me. He’s a lot of fun to work with and when he makes plays like that, you can tell all the work is paying off and he’s getting better and better.”

On Monday night, Williams will have the opportunity to break 1,000 yards on the field where his breakout actually began. In last year’s NFC Championship game against the San Francisco 49ers, Williams opened the scoring with a 42-yard touchdown run and added a late touchdown to give the Lions some life later. When the Lions return to San Francisco this week, they have a chance to clinch the NFC’s top seed and add Williams to the 1,000-yard club.

“He’s going to get to 1,000,” St. Brown said. “I know it’s him. He could do it in this game.”

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