Tag: Jameson Williams fantasy football

Will Detroit Lions WR Denzel Mims make an impact in fantasy football?

Mims was acquired recently by Detroit, but does it even matter?

An argument can be made that Detroit Lions wide receiver Denzel Mims has been as big a victim of circumstance as a second-round bust from the 2020 draft. To sum up his three years with the New York Jets is brief. He missed the first six games of his career. In his first six games with then-heralded Jets savior Sam Darnold, he caught 19 passes for 325 yards and had at least one catch of 23 or more yards in five of them. When the Jets moved on to Zach Wilson in 2021, in his final six games, Mims was targeted nine times and caught just one of them for four yards. Last season, he played in just 10 games – because he was inactive seven times and caught 11 passes in the 10 he played. It seemed clear he wasn’t a good fit with what the Jets wanted to do.

Make no mistake. Mims isn’t a bum. He has legit 4.38 speed, but the Jets have proved organizationally willing to move on from first-round quarterbacks quicker than most – much less second-round receivers. Loyalty is in short supply with the Jets.

The window of opportunity for Mims was minimal at the end of last season and made worse with the signing of Aaron Rodgers and the arrival of his running buddies Allen Lazard and Randall Cobb to go along with significant franchise investments made in Corey Davis and Garrett Wilson. It was time for Mims to go. He was the WR5, at best, in New York.

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His release was eventual, but the Lions saw enough in him to offer a minimal trade deal – a conditional sixth-round pick in 2025 for a seventh-round pick from the Jets in 2025. If Mims doesn’t make the 53-man roster in 2023, the deal is off and everybody walks away.

In the NFL, once a guy leaves the team facility, those who kept quiet start talking. Mims isn’t immune. The word from Florham Park was that Mims struggled to pick up the offense at an elemental level. He comes to the Lions with a clean slate to prove himself and show he can make an impact.

Fantasy football impact

If Mims wants to reclaim his career, the best thing he has going for him is a Lions offense that is going to throw 600 times or more this season. The suspension of Jameson Williams for the first six games of the season will be critical for Mims to make an impression beyond being a core special teams player.

In terms of fantasy value, Mims will be drafted by friends and relatives only. That said, he is a player to watch – the Lions open the 2023 season in the Thursday opener. Depending on what you see in snap counts and production, he could be the first roster pickup in your league, but having never shown any semblance of sustainability, he doesn’t have fantasy value until he’s shown it. He’s a reactive fantasy commodity, not a proactive one.

How many Detroit Lions receivers will be relevant in 2023 fantasy football?

How will things shake out after Amon-Ra St. Brown gets his?

Looking at the Detroit Lions’ wide receiver depth chart heading into the 2021 season, you could make a case that they were the worst in the NFL.

No longer.

The emergence of Amon-Ra St. Brown as a high-end possession wideout coupled with the potential of Jameson Williams and veteran savvy of players like Marvin Jones and Josh Reynolds gives the Lions a capable group with some upside. The lone departure of note from last year is WR DJ Chark Jr., who signed with the Carolina Panthers.

With quarterback Jared Goff coming off a redemptive season (4,438 yards, 29 TDs, 7 INTs), the Lions’ passing game is suddenly worth looking at for fantasy football owners.

Jameson Williams’ gambling suspension muddies his fantasy outlook

What is Williams’ worth knowing he’ll miss at least six games?

When the Detroit Lions selected wide receiver Jameson Williams with the 12th overall pick in last year’s draft, it came with the understanding that he’d contribute little, if at all, as a rookie, after suffering a torn ACL during the National Championship Game on Jan. 10, 2022. Williams would ultimately debut in Week 13 and appear in six games for Detroit, logging a total of 78 snaps. He was targeted nine times and finished his rookie season with one reception, a 41-yard touchdown against the Minnesota Vikings.

With the Lions finishing at 9-8, the franchise’s first winning season since 2017, excitement was high for the young team to take the next step in 2023. That feeling certainly extended to Williams, whose deep speed looks like the perfect complement to Amon-Ra St. Brown, who has established himself as one of the top young possession receivers in the league. Unfortunately, Lions fans and fantasy owners are going to have to wait a little extra time to see that duo in action.

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That’s because on April 22, the NFL suspended five players for violating the league’s gambling policy, four of whom were Lions. That included Williams, who drew a six-game ban since he did not bet on NFL games. While the duration of the suspension might qualify as a silver lining, it still means Detroit will get what amounts to 23 games of nothing to begin the first-rounder’s career. While Williams will take part in training camp and the preseason, he’ll be barred from team facilities starting in Week 1.

In Williams’ absence, the team will look to veterans Josh Reynolds (38-479-3) and Marvin Jones (46-529-3 w/ JAX) to fill the void. DJ Chark Jr., who averaged a team-high 16.7 yards per reception in 2022, signed with the Carolina Panthers during the offseason after one year in Motown. Reynolds has played multiple seasons with QB Jared Goff, both in LA and here, but he was disappointing last season. Jones had some good years with the Lions, but he’s 33 and on the downside of his career. Neither is a threat to hold Williams back when he’s ready to return.

As such, once Williams’ suspension is completed, he should immediately slide into the starting lineup alongside St. Brown. While it figures to take a little time to shake off the rust of scarcely playing in almost two years as well as develop chemistry with Goff, the Alabama product has talent and upside that nobody else on the roster can compete with.

Fantasy football outlook

Best-case scenario, you’ll be getting 11 games from Williams, and it’s hard to imagine he’ll be a consistent producer right off the bat after essentially redshirting his first season. His ability to get deep in an offense that finished fourth in yardage and fifth in scoring (26.6 points per game) in 2022 creates some interesting upside, though, making Williams an ideal late-round lottery ticket to stash on your bench as a WR5 or WR6.

Promising wide receiver Jameson Williams suspended six games

Another fantasy-relevant WR will miss time for gambling.

While we have yet to see the true potential of Detroit Lions wide receiver Jameson Williams, it will have to wait a little longer after the second-year pro was suspended six games for violating the NFL’s gambling policy.

The dynamic wideout missed the majority of his 2022 rookie season as he recovered from knee reconstruction after tearing an anterior cruciate ligament at the end of his collegiate career. The dangerous vertical weapon was poised to ascend to WR1 status in Detroit’s offense this upcoming season, and the loss of DJ Chark Jr. as the team’s top deep threat paved the way for at least a defined path to fantasy viability. Instead, we’ll have to wait to see him until midseason, and then there’s always the concern of whether he’ll be rusty and need a few appearances to get back into the flow.

Detroit has enough weapons to survive, but there’s no way this doesn’t set the offense back from reaching its full potential. Jared Goff will remain a shaky fantasy backup, at best, and there will be more to go around for Amon-Ra St. Brown, Marvin Jones, Kalif Raymond and Josh Reynolds. Jones should be relevant in the first half of 2023 and benefits the most from Williams’ absence.

Williams himself goes from what would have been a WR3 with No. 2 upside fantasy option to a draft-day fourth receiver. That’s not to say he won’t generate WR2 returns during the second half of the season and be a formidable part of a championship run, but it’s going to require patience as well as surviving the occupation of a valuable roster spot. Fortunately, there is only one week where byes come into play during his hiatus, unless Detroit gets an early vacation.

Fantasy football: Sifting through the Detroit Lions’ receiving corps

A retooled receiving corps leaves plenty of unanswered fantasy questions heading into training camp.

Heading into last season, the Detroit Lions had arguably the saddest collection of talent at the receiver position in the NFL with wide receivers Kalif Raymond, Quintez Cephus, and Tyrell Williams (currently a free agent) atop the depth chart.

Much has changed since then. Unheralded fourth-round pick Amon-Ra St. Brown put together a strong rookie campaign, emerging as a reliable target for quarterback Jared Goff, and Josh Reynolds arrived via the waiver wire, reuniting him with Goff from their days together with the Los Angeles Rams.

This offseason has brought even more reinforcements, highlighted by the selection of Alabama wide receiver Jameson Williams (knee) with the 12th overall selection — that’s the earliest the Lions have drafted a wideout since Hall of Famer Calvin Johnson in 2007. Detroit also took a one-year flier on former Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver DJ Chark Jr., who had a 1,000-yard season in 2019 but is coming off a fractured ankle that limited him to four games this past year.

In what must be considered something of a surprise, Goff will again steer the ship in 2022 as the Lions chose to sit out one of the busiest offseasons in league annals in terms of quarterback movement, despite not having an obvious heir apparent at the position. While Goff had some good years in LA, much of that credit has been given to Rams head coach Sean McVay, and the team’s decision to move on from Goff leading to an immediate championship certainly supports that statement.

Still, Goff is an experienced pro who shouldn’t hold the offense back too much. On paper, this looks like the finest collection of weapons he’s had since 2018 when the offense included Cooper Kupp, Robert Woods (Tennessee Titans), Brandin Cooks (Houston Texans), and running back Todd Gurley (free agent).

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Fantasy football injury outlook: WR Jameson Williams, Lions

When can fantasy football owners expect Williams’ debut?

Detroit Lions wide receiver Jameson Williams (knee) is not expected to be on the field when training camp opens for rookies Saturday, July 23. The first-round pick in April’s NFL draft ranks among the top players at the position, so it’s no surprise the coaching staff isn’t keen on rushing their franchise weapon back too soon from a January ACL tear.

Head coach Dan Campbell was asked on June 9 about Williams’ expected availability for camp, responding, “I don’t see him being ready for training camp. I don’t see that. I’m very hopeful, but I don’t see it. We’re going to do this thing the right way and when he’s ready, he’ll be ready. But, no, I don’t feel like you’re going to see him out there Day 1,” Campbell said.

Typically speaking, a player is physically recovered from knee reconstruction between six and nine months, which would put Week 1 of the regular season in jeopardy on the long end of things. Modern science has assisted players in returning sooner than in the past, where needing nine months to a year generally served as the target range.

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The tricky part no one can forecast is just how long it takes an individual player to trust the repaired knee and feel comfortable making all of the necessary football moves without giving it a second thought. In a game of inches, any fraction of time invested in hesitation can make all the difference.

When can fantasy footballers expect to see Williams back on the field? On the long end of things, Week 7 at Dallas would be the conservative approach if the Lions opt to put him on the Reserve/Physically Unable to Perform list. However, the recent revamping of the Reserve/Injured list rules means three weeks on the sidelines is the likelier outcome given the time frame we’ve established for Williams.

In that even, the Alabama standout will miss home games against Philadelphia and Washington as well as a trip to Minnesota before an Oct. 2 return to Motown to face Seattle. Based on projections, Philly is a poor matchup, Washington leans favorable, and Minnesota is a modest one with a slight lean toward the rookie’s favor.

Williams will suffer from missing most if not all of the offseason. The value of building chemistry with quarterback Jared Goff cannot be overstated, and there’s only so much a rookie can glean from mental reps within the playbook.

Fantasy football outlook

Factoring in Campbell’s lack of assurance about Williams’ return for camp and no immediate need to rush him back, fantasy footballers should not count on the first-round rookie making a splash before midseason. The likes of Amon-Ra St. Brown, DJ Chark Jr., Josh Reynolds, Quintez Cephus and Kalif Raymond will be available to hold down the fort. That’s not to say Williams won’t be on the field prior to the midway point, but it’s going to potentially take that long before he’s remotely comfortable physically and mentally with the speed of the pro game.

For now, barring a miraculous change in his prognosis, Williams is a upper-end bench addition in most formats. He has WR3/flex appeal as the season winds to a close, perhaps just in time for a late push toward the fantasy playoffs.

Fantasy football team previews: NFC North

It’s time to catch up on all of the NFC North’s fantasy-based changes.

The 2022 fantasy football draft season is starting to heat up now that we’ve gone through the height of free agency and all of the chosen rookies have been assigned to their professional home cities.

The landscape has changed a great deal for many franchises after a whirlwind offseason, and our divisional preview series will help you stay on top of all of the changes to date.

AFC divisional previews

East | North | South | West

NFC divisional previews

East | North | South | West