"We Got High Hopes for Him": Detroit Lions Head Coach Dan Campbell Bullish on Jameson Williams at NFL Combine

After bouncing back from a turbulent first season and change, Williams is primed for a bigger role in 2024, and Lions head coach Dan Campbell entailed his excitement for Williams at the NFL Scouting Combine on Tuesday.

INDIANAPOLIS — Jameson Williams’ NFL career up to this point has been short, yet well-documented. 

The St. Louis, Mo. native found his footing in 2021 after a pair of underwhelming seasons at Ohio State and Alabama. Williams became the Crimson Tide's lightning rod at receiver, leading the team in receptions and touchdowns en route to the top seed in that year's College Football Playoff. 

However, an uphill battle started in the national title game against Georgia, when Williams tore his ACL in the second quarter. Even though Williams wasn't going to be physically ready to play football for a while, the injury didn't stop the Detroit Lions from doing whatever it took to get their guy. 

In the ensuing NFL Draft, the Lions traded up from 32 to 12 with divisional foe Minnesota in order to draft Williams. Detroit sacrificed the 34th and 66th overall picks while also receiving the 45th overall pick from the Vikings. 

The knee injury limited Williams to just six appearances in 2022, in which he only received nine total targets. Even so, Williams recorded his first NFL touchdown on a 41-yard rainbow from Jared Goff that saw Williams run right through the Minnesota defense. 

2023 was set to be a breakout year for Williams. Unfortunately, the hype train came to a screeching halt when he was suspended six games in April for violating the NFL's gambling policy. Although that suspension was reduced to four games in September, Williams still had to re-acclimate himself and take things slow upon his return. 

It didn't take long for the hype train to speed back up. 

While Williams wasn't immediately a top receiving option in Detroit — that title went to Amon-Ra St. Brown — Williams flashed the electricity that made him one of the most dangerous receivers in college football at Alabama. 

“All we asked of him was growth, just get better, just get a little bit better and just become one of the guys, somebody that we can rely on in this offense, just do your job, and that’s exactly what he did," Lions head coach Dan Campbell said at the NFL Scouting Combine on Tuesday. "And you could see by the end of the year, we really felt like he started coming into his own."

In 2023, Williams caught 42 passes for 354 yards and two touchdowns. In the playoffs, he caught six passes for 79 yards and a touchdown. The highlight of his playoff performances came in the NFC Championship against the San Francisco 49ers, when Williams took an end around 42 yards to the house and hauled in a three-yard touchdown pass that kept Detroit alive late in the fourth quarter. 

The numbers Williams put up in 2023 weren't typical for a receiver drafted as high as he was. Besides, the receivers drafted around Williams have been incredibly productive since they entered the league — Drake London, Garrett Wilson, Chris Olave and Jahan Dotson have all developed into top receiving options on their respective teams. 

Campbell, however, didn't seem too worried about where other receivers in Williams' class were at in their careers. Rather, Campbell sounded focused solely on Williams' development, whose arrow is pointing up. 

"We said it before: everybody grows at a different rate," Campbell said. "Maybe it’s taking him a little bit longer, but he is developing, and he’s grown. The kid’s come on."

Even better for Williams, he likely has his first normal NFL offseason in front of him to continue improving, an offseason that could see Williams elevate himself into a more prominent role according to Campbell. 

"He’s gonna push to be a full-time starter now, and that’s what we’re looking for," Campbell said. 

All in all, Williams is on track to become the player Lions fans likely wanted him to become when Detroit took him 12th overall in 2022. While the flashes have been infrequent thus far, Campbell expects them to become more consistent as Williams continues to find his footing in the NFL.

"We got high hopes for him. We see him continuing to grow," Campbell said. "As long as he gets back and puts the work in like we believe he will because he’s shown that, he’s only gonna get better and better and better.”

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