The Detroit Lions entered 2024 believing receiver Jameson Williams was ready to make a giant leap. The wideout blasted off in Sunday night's 26-20 overtime victory over the Los Angeles Rams.
The former first-round pick generated a career-high 121 receiving yards on five catches with a touchdown. The 52-yard score in which he torched veteran corner Tre'Davious White was also a career-long for the speedster.
"This is just Game 1," Williams said, via Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. "Like I said, I put in a lot of work. I expected to have a big game. Me personally, I expect to have a big game, I guess, it's just big to the world just 'cause it's my first one. But I plan to have a lot more. I don't plan on this being my best game of my career. I plan on this just being a start of me being me."
Detroit sorely needed Williams' big plays, as the rest of the offense struggled for the bulk of the contest, looking like a group who didn't get any preseason reps together.
Before Sunday night's explosion, Williams' career-high was 69 yards, which came on two catches against Dallas in Week 17, 2023.
Against the Rams, the 23-year-old showed he's more than a one-trick deep-shot artist, showing improved route running and doing much of his damage over the middle, where his run-after-catch ability burned L.A. defenders.
"I expected him to play pretty good, to play better, and he showed up," Lions head coach Dan Campbell said, via the team's transcript. "I mean, that was a big game to be able to catch some of these and go through it. And the best part of it was he didn't even play his best ball. There's still so much to clean up, but it also shows the work that he's put in, and he is improving, and he's an improved player, and he wants it, and he keeps working on it. And he just, he keeps taking these steps. So as long as he keeps doing it, and keeps making plays, he's just going to continue to get better. So yeah, I'm proud of him, I'm proud of where he's at, but he's got so much room to continue to grow."
Williams played in just six games as a rookie after an ACL tear at Alabama. In 2023, he missed the first four games due to a gambling suspension.
Inconsistency and drops highlighted Williams' play last season. He showed neither of those issues Sunday night. While it's only one week, the wideout's performance answered a massive question for the Lions offense. When Amon-Ra St. Brown and Sam LaPorta are slowed, as they were last night, where would Detroit find production?
If Williams continues the improvement he showed Sunday, the Lions offense will be dangerous when the rest of the operation clicks.
