Jameson Williams finally breaks out in Week 4 loss

Williams wasted little time getting involved early in this one. On the Lions’ fifth play of the game, he ripped off a 24-yard gain to the Packers’ 16-yard line. On the next play, Williams came in motion and snuck out of the Lions’ backfield to turn a short pass into a 16-yard score, giving the Lions their first points of the day. Williams would find the end zone again in the third quarter on a 10-yard touchdown, and on the following drive, he nearly scored again. Were it not for a Packers defender knocking him out of the back of the end zone on a catch, we would have seen a hat trick. Williams’ big-play ability was on display all night, as three of his five receptions went for 15-plus yards. Williams now has back-to-back two-touchdown performances to his name and has gone for 90-plus yards in two of his last three games. His volume continues to be inconsistent, but Williams is capable of breaking any game open at a moment’s notice. He will be a fringe WR2 in what could be a tough Week 8 matchup against the Vikings.

The Lions’ speedster only caught two passes today, but he made them count. Williams’ first catch was a nine-yard, fourth-down touchdown on the Lions’ fifth drive. He nearly hauled in a 25-yarder via a play-action target on the sixth drive, but Cardinals CB Max Melton batted it away. He was open for an explosive gain on the next drive, but Jared Goff checked down to Sam LaPorta about 10 yards beneath Williams. A few plays later, Williams dusted his coverage defender for a 39-yard score from bunch formation, hauling in the touchdown pass in stride in the end zone. Goff later gave him another touchdown chance on a downfield throw targeted inside the Cardinals’ five-yard line, but Williams couldn’t secure it. He’ll now take a week off with the Lions’ Week 6 bye, but return as a WR2 against the Packers in Week 7.

The incident was reported to the police earlier this month. Jeff Wattrick, spokesman for the Oakland County Prosecutor, told Birkett, “Based on the facts presented to us at this time, the Novi Police and our office jointly concluded that there is no cause to file charges against Mr. Williams.” Williams has been an off-field headache for the Lions since entering the league, but it doesn’t sound like this latest incident will be an issue. He will be on the field for the team’s Week 4 date with Carolina.

Drew Petzing schemed up a few short and intermediate looks for Williams, but he still finished with a measly 12.5 percent target share. Both Jahmyr Gibbs and Amon-Ra St. Brown saw eight targets. Williams has topped out at four catches through three weeks. His 49 yards today are a season-high. Williams closed the 2025 season as an every-week WR2, maybe even more. That usage has all but disappeared to start the 2026 season. He is tumbling back into the WR3 ranks heading into the Lions’ Week 4 game against the Panthers.

Williams continues to be primarily utilized as a deep threat in the Detroit offense, which is not the development fantasy managers were expecting following offseason reports that his route tree would be expanded in the new year. The mounting injuries along the offensive line have limited Goff’s time in the pocket to the point where Williams rarely has enough time for his routes to develop, leading to the down production through two weeks. Whether either of those two variables changes in the immediate future remains to be seen, leaving us to treat Williams as nothing more than an upside WR3 in the interim. He will be a difficult start in Week 3 when the Lions host the Jets.

At least a couple times a year Campbell has to tell reporters that he’s not worried about Williams’ sometimes-egregious drops, and that his playing time won’t suffer as a result. “I mean, look, nobody’s more frustrated than he is about it, but what I love is this just shows his growth,” Campbell said. “He bounced back, he gets back in the huddle. He’s not sulking, he’s not pouting about it, he’s not letting it go in the tank.” Williams in Week 1 against the Saints had two drops, one of which could have gone for a long score. He led the Lions with 128 air yards (a 56 percent share) and was second on the team with a 23 percent target share. Williams ran a route on 37 of Detroit’s 40 drop backs. He should be locked into lineups for Thursday night’s matchup against the Bills.

Williams posted a semi-usable fantasy score, but the film was hard to watch. He dropped a perfectly thrown deep shot from Jared Goff early in the game and bungled a pitch later, resulting in a loss. Williams has had these types of games in the past and he generally rebounds well. Fantasy managers can keep him in their lineups for a likely shootout with the Bills next week.

Graziano said the “Lions offense is going to hum this season, and Williams is the player poised to take the biggest leap.” That leap, he said, could come as Detroit coaches push Jamo “to expand his route repertoire and contribute as more than just a deep threat.” That in turn could create more short-area and intermediate opportunities and make Williams something more than a boom-bust WR3 play. Williams’ splits with and without Sam LaPorta are concerning, but he should be a high-upside swing in fantasy drafts, especially for those who fade receivers in the first couple rounds.

The Lions are retaining “all” of last year’s play-calling verbiage, and “it was on Drew Petzing to learn the offense,” not the other way around. Goff apparently “had as much of a hand in getting Petzing familiar with the offense as the offensive staff did.” Mays believes these developments speak to the command, agency and autonomy that Goff possesses at this stage in his career. We agree. For those who were concerned about the Lions scrapping the tactics that coach Dan Campbell employed as the Lions’ play caller in Weeks 10-18 last year, it sounds like those concepts aren’t going anywhere. Will Petzing be allowed to add his own elements to that playbook? Yes, we assume so. At the end of the day, this year’s offense could look a lot like last year’s fantasy-friendly unit, though. Draft accordingly.

Williams missed the Lions’ last two practices with what coach Dan Campbell described as a minor shoulder injury. Today’s practice was padless. We should learn more about Williams’ status when the pads go back on. Regardless, Williams seemingly remains a safe WR2/3 candidate right now.