Whenever an NFL team drafts a player, the fan base should always keep an open mind on the players. There are a lot of factors that go into a player being successful. Whether it be scheme, coaching or personal matters off the field, it all plays a part for the player and the franchise. So there are times that we have to patient with the players and the franchise.
In the case of Jameson Williams, how patient do we have to be?
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After the Lions loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday by the way of a score of 38-6, there were a lot of poor performances from everyone involved. However, there was no performance more eye opening than the one we saw from wide receiver Jameson Williams.
As you know, we’ve been patiently waiting for Williams to be on the field and contributing to this Lions football team. Unfortunately, the results weren’t positive on Sunday for Williams. He was targeted six times and he caught zero passes on the day. Let’s dive into the tape to see if it’s all on Williams or if it’s a combination of bad passes from Jared Goff or just better play from the opposition.
Starting with the first pass thrown to Jameson Williams on the day, the Lions come out in an empty set on offense. At the bottom of the screen, you’ll see Williams (WR 9) aligned as the ‘X’ receiver. Once the ball is snapped, he explodes vertically up field and as he gets to 10-yards, he breaks towards the sideline with an out breaking route.
While his route is somewhat rounded, Williams is open and Goff throws this ball low and more towards the sideline than into the field. Much of the ball placement is due to the defender being draped over the shoulder of Williams. Unfortunately, Williams wasn’t able to get two feet in bounds and it resulted in the pass being incomplete. Had this pass been completed, it would have led to a first down.
Moving ahead to the 4th quarter, the Lions are faced with a 3rd and 10 while driving towards the Ravens end zone. Aligned in another empty set, Goff puts Williams (WR 9) on an orbit motion prior to the snap.
Once the ball is snapped, Williams is jogging his route but I think much of that is due to Goff. After Goff takes the snap, he takes a 3-step drop rather than instantly turning to Williams and slinging. Meanwhile, the pass seems too far out in front of the receiver.
That said, it leads to the ball bouncing off the hand of Williams as he doesn’t fully commit to catching the ball. Ultimately, this looks like poor commitment from the receiver and bad chemistry between him and the quarterback.
Looking at the play above, this is the one that got everyone talking on Sunday. Reason being, the ball hit Williams in the face mask. Coming out of shotgun with Williams (WR 9) aligned as the ‘X’ receiver at the bottom of the screen.
Despite facing man coverage, Williams runs a fly route down the sideline. In the process, it appears as if he’s potentially got the defender beat by a step. However, as the ball is in the air, that doesn’t remain to be the case.
Even though Goff puts this ball where it needs to be, the defender just makes a great play and swats the right arm of Williams away. This prevents him from being able to get both hands up for the ball and try to secure the catch. While this leads to the ball hitting off the face mask of Williams, you could make the case that the defender did hit the arm of the receiver early.
Lastly, the Lions come out in a trip right formation with Williams (WR 9) aligned as the ‘X’ receiver on the bottom of the screen. To match this, the Ravens run an inverted Cover 3 look on defense so this leads to Williams running one-on-one with the cornerback.
Once the ball is snapped, Williams pushes vertically up the field and wins initially with an impressive outside-in release. As he uses his speed to create separation, he ends up losing track of the ball due to turning his head inside rather than outside.
Even though Williams makes a good adjustment to find the football, the ball ends up bouncing off his hands. On what could have been another touchdown for the receiver, it ended up being one of the final plays of the game. This ultimately left us with a bitter taste in our month and wanting more from the second-year receiver.
Through three games this season, there has been flashes from Williams. He’s shown that his speed and deep threat ability are there. The consistency is lacking and it looks like the rapport with Jared Goff just isn’t the same as Goff has with other receivers on the team. Maybe that will come with more time, but like I said, we’ve been patient. We will remain patient, but the question for Jameson Williams and the Lions is simple. How much longer?