Isaiah Williams' DNA Gives Him Great Chance to Battle for Roster Spot

UDFA WR Isaiah Williams willing to 'always put in extra' to achieve his goals.

Detroit Lions wide receiver Isaiah Williams / Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports

Dan Campbell told Amon-Ra St. Brown, Penei Sewell, Jared Goff and several of the Lions' leaders that it is their football team.

With leadership comes the opportunity to pass down lessons and to set an example of the work needed to reach the pinnacle of success in the National Football League.

After the first day of Lions training camp, a select number of players remained after practice to work on the JUGS machine, just like St. Brown, the team's star wideout.

Among them was undrafted rookie free agent wideout Isaiah Williams.

Admittedly, he is not the type of individual seeking glitz and glamour. The culture of grit and hard work fits right in with what the talented wideout is seeking from an organization he plays for.

The additional work put in, starting right away in the spring, is paying off in his pursuit of learning the offense and emulating the hardest-working players on the roster.

“It means everything. I’m on an uphill battle to make this team," Williams told Lions On SI after practice this week. "So putting in that extra, it’s gonna be mandatory, but I feel like that’s just kind of how I grew up, that’s kind of my DNA. Parents instilled that in me, coaches, always put in extra. It’s been paying off, so when I get to this point, it’s not gonna be something that I stop now.” 

More: Day Two Detroit Lions Training Camp Observations

Jameson Williams Route Running Has Improved pic.twitter.com/h3EdOnReTc

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Campbell is not seeking glitz and glamour, either. Just "boring production" on a consistent, daily basis.

"Well, look, I told them in day one, consistency. You've got to have consistent production. Somebody that just, every day man, they're making some plays. I'm not talking about the flash plays. They're where they're supposed to be when they're supposed to be there," said Campbell, when asked what those battling for roster spots need to show to impress coaches. "They're making the play that's there. Every day they get just a little bit better. I call it just good, steady, boring production. I love that, we all love that as coaches, because you know exactly what you're gonna get out of those players. That's gonna go a long way."

Williams has only been playing the receiver position for three years. It was likely during the evaluation process that the Lions scouting department learned about his grit and willingness to go the extra mile. As a result, the Lions were willing to give the former Illinois wideout a $225,000 base salary guarantee.

“I'm just putting in extra when it comes to learning the playbook. I’m out there knowing exactly where I’ve gotta to be, doing my job. That’s the biggest thing, just knowing where you need to be," said Williams. "As far as catching the ball, I haven’t been playing receiver that long. It’s been three years of me playing receiver. Me having to put in extra when it came to catch and route running, it was mandatory for me to pick it up as fast as I picked it up.” 

Being part of a wide receivers room with so much talent has served to inspire new members of the roster.

“It’s everything, it pushes me. Them boys don’t know I watch them so much and just learn from them. Guys like St. Brown, Kalif (Raymond), Jamo (Jameson Williams). Having them in the room and them showing me the way, seeing how they do, I see St. Brown putting in extra work. I’m like, ‘Okay, that shows that extra work helps.’ That’s why he’s one of the best receivers in the league, because he works harder than almost everybody on this team," Williams said. "Watching him in the weight room, watching him how he is in meetings, it’s easy to learn from them and make my learning curve even faster.” 

For young players, learning the playbook can be a daunting task. The 23-year-old explained that increased understanding of all the wide receiver positions will aid in his route-running development.

“First, I want to know the offense. Every position. I want to know what the quarterback’s reads are on every play. I want to know every receiver position," said Williams. "I want to know, is this a six-man protection? Is this a seven-man protection? Is this a five-man protection? So I know how much time I have to get open. I feel like that’s what helped me so much in college. Right now, I’m not there yet. Right now, I know what the receivers have on every play. Once I learn the offense and what we’re trying to do as an offense, it’ll make my route running better, because I know exactly what the quarterback’s looking for.”

Super Bowl dreams

The players on the roster have believable aspirations to win a Super Bowl this season. In Campbell's fourth year, the confidence level of the roster is at an all-time high.

“I was just on the phone with my friend yesterday. I was telling him, ‘Bro, you’d be surprised the confidence the people in this building have.’ It’s crazy, but I feel like it’s something that we just feed off of. Even the rookies, I’m coming in here like, ‘We winning.’ We’re coming here to win, we’re coming here to help this team win," said Williams. "The confidence they have, it just instills a certain type of confidence in me to go out there and do my job, just help the team win when the time comes.” 

Detroit receivers coach Antwaan Randle El and his positive motivational style have made it easier for players to get acclimated and rebound from mistakes.

“He’s a cool dude. He’s funny, always joking. You’re gonna get a good laugh in the meeting room. But, one thing about coach, he’s a good dude. He looks out for his players. He’s a great coach, motivator, always positive, I have never seen him negative," said Williams. "I feel like them type of things, players just feed off of. If you’ve got a positive coach, it’s easy to be positive and be able to be coachable, because he’s so positive and you know he’s trying to help, you know he means the best. He’s a great coach.”