All off-season we’ve heard about wide receiver Jameson Williams having a breakout year for the Detroit Lions. There’s still plenty of football left to play but after one game, Williams is off to an impressive start this season.
On Sunday night against the Rams, Williams had 5 receptions for 121 yards and a touchdown. In addition to that, he also had one carry for 13 yards. While it was a quiet night for the Lions number one receiver, Amon-Ra St. Brown, it was the big time game that Lions fans have been waiting on for Williams.
He impressed so much that he earned himself a game ball for his performance. Let’s dive into some film to breakdown the career day that Jamo had for the Lions during the season opener against the Los Angeles Rams.
https://x.com/RussNFLDraft/status/1833317817577279594
Starting with one of the first big plays from Jameson Williams in this game. The Lions align in the I-formation with their ’11’ personnel (one running back and one tight end). Bunched to the right is Jameson Williams (WR #9) and Kalif Raymond (WR #11).
Prior to the snap, Raymond is sent on an exit motion to the sideline. Once the ball is snapped, you’ll see Williams explode up field and he’ll threaten the defender vertically with his speed. As the defender opens his hips and prepares to run stride-for-stride, that’s when Williams breaks to the middle of the field.
Coming off play-action, Goff sees Williams open and he fires the ball to him with ease. With plenty of room to run, you can see Williams run and collect plenty of yards after the catch. This was an explosive play that helped get the offense going after a slow start to the game.
https://x.com/RussNFLDraft/status/1833336502291481014
Next, I want to focus on the end around that was ran with Jameson Williams. It’s the same play we saw on Thursday night with Xavier Worthy of the Kansas City Chiefs and it’s the same play we saw Williams score on during the NFC Championship game against the 49ers.
Looking at the play above, the Lions align under center with their ’11’ personnel (one running back and one tight end). Bunched to the right of the formation is Kalif Raymond (WR #11) and Amon-Ra St. Brown (WR #14). Once the ball is snapped, you can see Williams running into the backfield.
As Goff fakes the hand-off to the running back, he flips the ball to Williams. This leads to him getting out in space and up field for a gain of 13 yards. Getting the ball in his hands can always lead to a big play and had one more block been secured at the second or third level, this could have possibly been a touchdown.
https://x.com/RussNFLDraft/status/1833487840363393199
Lastly, I want to focus on the touchdown pass to Williams in the 3rd quarter. Looking at the play above, the Lions align in a trips formation (to the left or bottom of the screen) with their ’11’ personnel (one running back and one tight end).
At the bottom of the screen, you’ll see Jameson Williams running vertically up the sideline. During his route, he will throttle down and make it look as if he’s potentially running a comeback route or a curl route. This forces the defender to stop his feet and as that happens, he bursts up field.
This creates plenty of separation and leads to the deep pass completion from Goff. Ultimately, Williams gets into the end-zone and increases the Lions lead to 17-3.
https://x.com/LionsPR/status/1833242324530327756
Overall, it was a great start to the season for Jameson Williams. It was a slow start for players such as Sam LaPorta and Amon-Ra St. Brown but there’s been questions surrounding which player will step-up as another option in the Lions passing attack. It may only be one game but it really looks like this could be the game plan for him on a weekly basis.