The 2024 Detroit Lions are poised on the precipice of greatness. Dan Campbell’s Lions were within one half of the franchise’s first Super Bowl appearance a year ago, and they’ve taken steps to significantly upgrade the pass defense.
Heck, I’ve picked Detroit to win the NFC this year. These Lions are that high-end.
Yet every team has flaws and vulnerabilities. Wrapping up the list of my biggest concerns (aside from “injuries”) about what might keep the Lions from achieving their full potential: wide receiver play from anyone not named Amon-Ra St. Brown.
Potential worries about the Detroit Lions: Defensive newcomers with injury histories
Potential worries about the 2024 Detroit Lions: The safety spot
Potential worries about the 2024 Detroit Lions: Kicking
The Lions are in great hands with St. Brown, an All-Pro who was briefly the highest-paid wide receiver in NFL history earlier this offseason. He’s worth every penny, and St. Brown could very well set the league record for targets and receptions in 2024.
After St. Brown, well…
Every other wide receiver will be at least one spot higher on an NFL depth chart than they’ve ever been before. That starts with Jameson Williams, who has not done much in two star-crossed seasons.
Jamo
“Jamo” has the talent to step up and take over the No. 2 wideout role. With his incredible speed, lanky toughness and improved approach and maturity, Williams has done what he needed to do this offseason to earn the role and the respect. Yet as confident as I am that Williams will be an impact player, he’s caught all of 25 passes in 18 games (10 starts) in two years, hauling in less than half the balls thrown his way from Jared Goff.
I can see Williams, all 6-foot-1 and 180 pounds of him, being a high-variance player; one week he’ll catch eight passes for 111 yards and two TDs, then drops back to 2 catches for 27 yards the following week, with a drop mixed in for good measure. In the team’s final scrimmage of the summer, Williams didn’t see a ball thrown his way until very late in the action. On the weeks where Jamo is hitting big, the Lions have a fantastic 1-2 punch at WR.
Lif
Those other weeks require someone else to step up, be it Kalif Raymond or Isaiah Williams. Raymond is an effective outside vertical threat despite being just 5-foot-8 and 180 pounds, but he’s fairly limited by size. He’s been great as a subpackage player the last two seasons, but in his one year as a (mostly) full-time starter, Raymond had a low yards-per-catch and overall catch rate relative to the rest of his career. He’s better in a more concentrated role.
The rookie
Isaiah Williams made the team as an undrafted rookie, and he earned that spot. He’s also undersized at 5-foot-9 and 186 pounds, but that makes him the second-heaviest receiver on the roster. Williams has also been playing wide receiver for only three years, starting out at Illinois as a quarterback. He’s nifty and shifty working the middle of the field and on special teams, but that’s about all he immediately offers.
Obviously, the Lions are going to mitigate the relative weakness at wideout by relying more heavily than most teams on the tight ends and running backs in the passing game. Detroit is loaded at those spots with record-setting Sam LaPorta, electrifying Jahmyr Gibbs and quality receivers in David Montgomery and Brock Wright. Offensive coordinator Ben Johnson is creatively aggressive and will be able to find some ways to make things work; of that, I have very little doubt. But that’s not always going to be enough.
Teams that can contain St. Brown and/or take away the middle of the field routes where Goff thrives the most are going to present issues for the Lions — potentially. You can bet opposing defenses will try, and these other Lions wideouts have yet to prove they’re capable of making them consistently pay.
Oh yeah, the practice squad…
The name value is high with Tim Patrick, Allen Robinson and Donovan Peoples-Jones. Back in 2020, that would have been a wicked starting threesome. It’s now 2024 and all three were cut this summer, including DPJ by the Lions even after the team essentially dared him to lose a gig–which he did. Robinson looked very slow in Pittsburgh last year and has a ton of mileage on his oft-injured, 31-year-old body. Patrick hasn’t played in two seasons and has about the same number of career receptions (143) as I believe St. Brown projects to get in 2024. Hopefully, someone rises up for a handful of weeks and provides solid play, but based on the summer, that’s nothing more than hope.