The Detroit Lions were off on Friday. The idle status didn’t stop the hand-wringing and hyper-analysis of polarizing Lions wide receiver Jameson Williams.
Discussion about “Jamo” is unavoidable in Lions land. There’s very little middle ground on the second-year speedster. Comments from head coach Dan Campbell that Williams struggles with “hand mechanics” and the subsequent explanation fueled the fire.
“Really, he’s just got to grind on it, and even then it’s not — it’ll never be probably like one of these elite pass-catchers that you’ve seen, but it’ll be just fine with his speed and what he’s able to do,” Campbell said of Williams’ inconsistent hands and catching ability.”
Social media warriors manned their battle stations, firing jackhammers and salvos either in support of Williams or in anger at Jamo himself and the Lions for bringing on this enigmatic wideout, who caught one pass (and dropped three) in six games as the No. 12 overall pick in the 2022 NFL draft.
The man responsible for drafting Williams, Lions GM Brad Holmes, tried to calm the waters. It’s not an easy task, not when Williams fails to catch three passes in a row but then makes a spectacular deep catch nobody else on the field can make on the next rep in the span of about 20 minutes in Thursday’s practice.
Holmes understands the microscope on his prized wideout.
“I think sometimes it’s a little more magnified when a wide receiver with that kind of talent — if he drops a ball, everybody sees it,” Holmes told 97.1 The Ticket on Friday. “But there’s other players that have some similar struggles. Some mistakes here and there that aren’t as magnified.”
The upcoming joint practices with the New York Giants and subsequent preseason games will help. It will give everyone a chance to see Williams competing against other teams, ones that don’t see his blazing speed or underappreciated length on a daily basis. Williams can win over a lot of skeptics by performing well in the exhibition season, and Campbell stated he’ll play a lot.
That’s what Williams needs. Football experience. He’s 22 years old and caught under 100 passes in three college seasons between Ohio State and Alabama. A torn ACL that ended his college career also prevented Williams from getting any on-field reps for his rookie training camp or early season.
Williams might be great. He might fizzle away quickly too. The young man needs to play and play a lot before we know which side of the Jamo battle lines proclaims victory.