Jameson

Williams

Even with Amon-Ra St. Brown in the lineup, Williams managed to tie for the team lead with nine targets and narrowly edged out ARSB in receiving yards. Williams has now totaled 240 yards through the air over the last two weeks. A solid fantasy day could have been made better had Williams managed to score on a seven-yard run that came up a yard short of the end zone. Despite a strong two weeks, Williams remains a volatile play for fantasy managers, but things have been mostly good as of late. He’s gone for 66 or more receiving yards in five of his last six games and scored in four of those games. He’ll be on the WR2/WR3 fantasy radar for Week 15 against the Rams.

Williams was nearly unstoppable on in-breaking routes, racking up catches over the middle. Ironically, his 22-yard touchdown occurred on a screen pass, in which he absorbed a hit from a diving Packers defender post-catch, before slithering through a jumbled mess of Lions and Packers on the left side of the field. He emerged from the fray near the 10-yard line, high-stepping the rest of the journey into the end zone. Williams could warrant fantasy WR1 treatment against the Cowboys next week. Slot WR Amon-Ra St. Brown (ankle) is expected to miss time.

Coming off 207 yards and two touchdowns over his past two games in the rejuvenated Detroit offense, Williams faded into the background once again in Week 12, as Amon-Ra St. Brown dominated targets (13) against a Giants defense that plays man coverage at one of the league’s highest rates. Williams had a 25-yard catch called back on penalty. He didn’t seem terribly interested in being part of the game after it became clear St. Brown would function as the engine of the Lions offense. Jamo drew a target on just six percent of his routes against the lowly New York secondary. Williams will still have some flex appeal in Week 13 against the Packers in what could be a high-scoring game.

TeSlaa is not fantasy-relevant on his own, but with TE Sam LaPorta (back) on injured reserve, his potential absence would have a small ripple effect. The Lions’ offense has racked up explosive gains with head coach Dan Campbell calling plays in recent weeks. TeSlaa’s Friday status is worth keeping an eye on for WR Amon-Ra St. Brown and WR Jameson Williams’ fantasy managers.

The Lions felt the impact of playing without tight end Sam LaPorta in this one, particularly considering the lockdown coverage throughout on alpha wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown. Williams found paint from 40 yards out in the second quarter on an in-breaking route, simply outrunning coverage up the middle of the field after beating his man inside. It was otherwise a rather quiet showing for the speedy receiver, who caught four of quarterback Jared Goff’s 14 completions. Regardless of the team’s performance, Williams has now recorded back-to-back fantasy relevant outings after the team shook up offensive play caller against the Commanders last week. He has another stellar chance to record solid counting stats for fantasy managers against a Giants team allowing explosive plays through the air at one of the highest rates in the league in Week 12.

LaPorta was entirely unable to practice this week, which is concerning. The Lions also listed backup TE Brock Wright (ankle) as questionable to play after two limited sessions. Hopefully, LaPorta can return in time for the Lions’ Week 12 game against the Giants. His Week 11 absence adds a potential target or two to WR Amon-Ra St. Brown, WR Jameson Williams and RB Jahmyr Gibbs’ workloads.

Williams entered halftime with just one reception for 19 yards. Lions head coach Dan Campbell, now calling plays, corrected the issue by aggressively calling Williams’ number on 10-yard in-breaking routes via play action. The Lions’ speedster caught 5-of-5 targets for 105 yards and one touchdown in the third quarter alone. He can be started as a high-upside WR2/3 against the Eagles in Week 11, thankfully having received renewed attention from Campbell over the last two weeks.

Williams’ 37-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter brought the Lions within three points at the 1:55 mark, but the defense couldn’t get the stop it needed to extend the game. Williams’ third score of the season required some seriously nifty sideline footwork, so nifty the refs at first thought he stepped out of bounds. New OC John Morton is proving less creative than Ben Johnson when it comes to getting Williams involved, especially for big plays, but he’s producing just enough to remain in the low-end WR3 mix. That being said, a Week 10 road date with the Commanders does not necessarily profile as a potential spiked week.

“I looked at everything, as far as that. I’m going to do a better job with that. But there has been opportunities where it just didn’t happen. ... It’s not like we aren’t going to try to target him. So that was the biggest thing. ... So I looked at everything, and I failed him. That’s what I told him. I have to do a better job with that. But it’s a two-way street. We definitely looked at that,” is the full quote from Morton. Morton gassed up Williams this offseason. It does seem like there is some room for Williams’ opportunity to move beyond go routes in this offense, and perhaps that’s something that will happen out of the bye. Either way, this is a squeaky wheel update for Williams, who is toting a rough 17/289/2 receiving line through Week 8.

Williams was targeted only twice and failed to come down with either look on a night when DC Kelvin Sheppard’s defense and running back Jahmyr Gibbs stole the show. The significantly positive game environment led to only 29 pass attempts from quarterback Jared Goff, and no pass-catcher other than Amon-Ra St. Brown saw more than a modest three targets. Williams has yet to live up to the offseason hype in fantasy circles, a trend he will look to buck in Week 9 against the Vikings following the Lions’ Week 8 bye.