After coming up with the best game of his NFL career, Detroit Lions wide receiver Jameson Williams has been battling an injury all week, leaving his playing status for Week 2 uncertain.
Should fantasy managers have Williams in their lineups for Week 2? Here is an update on his injury situation.
Will Jameson Williams Play in Week 2 vs. Buccaneers?
After such a terrific game in the Lions’ season-opening win over the Los Angeles Rams, Williams showed up on Detroit’s injury report this week with an ankle injury.
Williams was a limited participant in practice all week, and in Friday’s final injury report, the young receiver was listed as questionable for Sunday’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The good news for Lions fans and fantasy managers is that, according to NFL insider Jordan Schultz, Williams will be able to play Sunday.
The fact that Williams was at least able to participate in each practice this week was already a pretty good sign that he would be in the lineup on Sunday.
Should You Start Williams in Fantasy Lineups?
Assuming he plays Sunday, there probably has never been a better time for fantasy managers to have Williams in their lineups.
Quite simply, Williams had a career game in the season opener vs. the Rams. He caught five passes (on nine targets) for a career-high 121 yards, including a 52-yard touchdown catch.
He finished with 24.4 fantasy points in the Week 1 win, easily the most fantasy points he’s had in a game in his NFL career. In fact, last season in 12 games, Williams had a total of 80.3 fantasy points.
The third-year receiver’s career had been mostly a disappointment thus far. But Williams found a rhythm at the end of last year and appears to have carried over to this season.
Williams, who is the WR29 in the Pro Football Network’s Fantasy Rankings, is now averaging 70.0 receiving yards per game over his last four regular-season games after averaging 15.7 YPG in his first 15 career games.
Who Are the Other Fantasy Options To Consider on the Lions?
For fantasy managers, there isn’t much to pick from on the Lions at the wide receiver position.
On Saturday, the Lions announced they had elevated wide receivers Tom Kennedy and Tim Patrick from the practice squad.
After Williams and Amon-Ra St. Brown — the No. 3 WR in PFN’s rankings — the next-highest-ranked Lions wide receiver is Kalif Raymond (WR98). Raymond had just 1.2 fantasy points in Week 1, and those came courtesy of a 12-yard run. He was not targeted once against the Rams.
Kyle Soppe’s Fantasy Outlook for Williams
We said it all offseason, and it’s always nice when things work out. Williams owns a rare skill set, and he saw his snap shares spike as last season came to a close. Ending with positive trends is never a bad thing, but it should be viewed as especially predictive when it comes to a team with Super Bowl aspirations.
Detroit is nothing short of a perfect spot for a player like this, and that is why I’m not hesitating to rank him as a top-30 option this week (and moving forward). Williams isn’t the only game-breaking receiver in the league, but he might be the only one who plays on a fast track with a pocket-locked quarterback in an offense that has elite target earners in the short-and-intermediate areas.
His 32.1% target share from Week 1 may be his high-water mark for the season, and that’s OK. No one is going to argue with plenty of opportunities, but he doesn’t need them in order to pay off (the way Chris Godwin does, for example). He simply needs to be on the field (85.2% snap share on Sunday night, a career-best by 13 full percentage points) and threatening defenses.
Amari Cooper might be a better all-around receiver. Stefon Diggs could probably claim the same, and I think Brian Thomas Jr. has a better shot to lead his team in targets at any point during his career than Williams. Don’t care. This is a production-based business, and this perfect spot against a defense that excels at stopping the run isn’t slowing down my optimism – give me Williams over all of those options this week.