Anyone who drafted Jameson Williams in fantasy football did so knowing that they’d need to be patient. The 2022 first-round pick entered the NFL Draft after tearing his ACL and wasn’t expected to play much as a rookie. Over the offseason, Williams received what was supposed to be a six-game suspension for gambling at the Lions facility. However, the NFL recently updated their gambling policy, prematurely ending Williams’ suspension and allowing him to return to the field in Week 5.
Had he been healthy during the NFL Draft, there is a real chance that Williams would have been the first receiver selected in a draft class that included Garrett Wilson, Chris Olave, and Drake London. Now that he’s back on the field, what can fantasy football owners realistically expect from Jameson Williams for the rest of the season?
Fantasy Football: What to Expect From Jameson Williams
Jameson Williams The Player
First and foremost, we need to talk about Jameson Williams as an actual football player. Needless to say, the key to sustained success at fantasy football is being good at real football, so we first need to determine if Williams can actually play the game. The receiver appeared in six games last year and caught just one of the nine targets that came his way. This obviously isn’t ideal, but we can give him a pass for this poor efficiency. As mentioned earlier, Williams suffered a serious knee injury towards the end of the college football season, and the fact he was on the field in the first place was pretty encouraging.
Additionally, while it only came in small doses, we did catch a glimpse of Williams’ game-breaking speed and acceleration. His lone catch was a 41-yard touchdown, and he also made a nice catch in Detroit’s season-ending loss that was negated by penalty. Obviously, these two plays don’t necessarily mean anything on their own, but it’s good to see that the knee injury didn’t take away his elite speed.