Fact or Fiction: Do Lions Still Have Need at WR?

Where Lions stand at wide receiver position.

Dec 24, 2023; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Detroit Lions wide receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones (19). / Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports

The Detroit Lions passed on a deep wide receiver class this year in the NFL Draft.

With their six picks, the Lions targeted other positions to stockpile young talent. The organization took two cornerbacks and two offensive linemen, along with a running back and a defensive lineman.

However, they elected not to take a wide receiver in what was viewed as a deep class of prospects. By passing, they seem to have made a vote of confidence in their current depth on roster.

Entering the 2024 campaign, the Lions are viewed as a team without many holes on their roster. In a recent piece for Sports Illustrated, writers Gilberto Manzano and Matt Verderame listed the wide receiver position as one of the team's biggest needs on a roster that doesn't have many.

"It was tough finding three roster holes for the stacked Lions," Manzano and Verderame wrote. "They might be forced to draft a wide receiver next season if Jameson Williams doesn’t make the leap in 2024 to help recently-paid Amon-Ra St. Brown. Also, star edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson needs a long-term running mate. For now, they’re banking on free-agent newcomer Marcus Davenport. After spending the past year writing about the Lions’ needs at cornerback, they drafted Terrion Arnold and Ennis Rakestraw Jr. to form an intriguing cornerback group."

Perhaps the two biggest benefactors from the Lions' decision to pass on a receiver are Jameson Williams and Donovan Peoples-Jones. Both players have shown flashes of being big contributors through the early parts of their careers, but have yet to display the necessary consistency that would inspire confidence.

Williams has big-play potential, but has had plenty of stops and starts throughout his first two NFL seasons. An injury suffered in college limited him to just six games, while a suspension kept him out the first four games of the 2023 season.

Through 18 NFL games, or the equivalent of just over a full season, he has 24 receptions for 395 yards and three touchdowns. All but one of those catches, and touchdowns, came in 2023.

Now, Williams will have the opportunity to attack a full season without any inhibitors in his third season. The wideout finished strong last year, with two touchdowns in the NFC Championship game.

There's plenty of optimism surrounding Williams ahead of this year, but he will still have to produce at a high level in what is a big season. The Lions will have to make a decision on his fifth-year option after the upcoming campaign.

Peoples-Jones is another player in an interesting position. He's back in Detroit on a one-year deal after being acquired at the trade deadline. Though he had just eight regular season catches, the Lions feel good about his potential impact with the organization.

A consensus opinion regarding what the Lions need at the position is a big-bodied receiver capable of playing the 'X' position. At 6-foot-2, 204 pounds, Peoples-Jones has the frame to fit that bill.

He's also just one year removed from a 2022 campaign in which he logged 839 receiving yards. He's capable of producing at a high level with volume, so he'll get an opportunity to earn a role of that caliber.

Elsewhere, the Lions have Kalif Raymond and Antoine Green as potential contributors. Raymond is a smaller wide receiver who has held multiple roles and made an impact, while Green is entering his second NFL season. Though he had just one catch last season, he popped in the preseason and showed flashes of being a playmaker.

The Lions have the opportunity to add talent from now until training camp, but based on their moves it appears as though they are comfortable with what they have at the position.