Burning Question: Why Lions Still Want to Use Jameson Williams as Gunner?

Detroit Lions still plan to get Jameson Williams more involved against Vikings.
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The Detroit Lions' plan to increase the workload of rookie wide receiver Jameson Williams against the Minnesota Vikings. 

In his NFL debut, Detroit's No. 12 overall pick in this year's draft saw a total of eight snaps. 

He was targeted just once in the passing game, but could not connect with quarterback Jared Goff down the sideline. 

"We just wanted to get him out there," Campbell told 97.1 The Ticket Tuesday morning during his weekly appearance. "We wanted him to go through a pregame warm-up, be on the sideline, go line up, go fight with somebody a little bit, go run a route, see if you can connect, go block somebody and just be in it.

"Be part of it, pads on, all of that," Campbell continued. "Moving forward, it’ll be, 'OK, we’ll get him a little more involved now,' so we’ll have some things for him. He’ll play more than he did last week, but there again, it's just, let’s slowly start to implement him into what we’re doing and see how he handles everything."

Campbell and the team sent reverberating shockwaves through the NFL, when it was reported by Fox Sports NFL insider Jay Glazer the plan was to primarily use Williams as a special teams gunner against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Detroit Lions wideout Jameson Williams
© Kirthmon F. Dozier / USA TODAY NETWORK

More: Twitter Reacts to Surprising Jameson Williams News

The course of action changed, as the Lions did not punt on one single occasion in Week 13 at Ford Field. 

"Maybe that’s all he does, maybe he’s just a gunner. Let me tell you something, have you ever seen his gunner reps? Check ‘em out," Campbell lightheartedly explained. "But, we’ll see. I’ll tell you this, he’s a football player. He’s tough, he’s competitive and he’s not worried about breaking nails. He just wants to play. He’s obviously going to get more reps on offense, and we’ll take him where he can go."

Prior to the start of the season, Detroit general manager Brad Holmes told reporters the speedy wideout possessed a vast array of skills, including the ability to contribute on special teams early in his career. 

"Just because of his skillset, he’ll have a lot of versatility for us. So, if he’s not a full-time wide receiver, does he play special teams? Well, he’s got some damn good gunner tape out there in the SEC," Holmes expressed. "He’s got some good return tape out there in the SEC, so we’ll have some options." 


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John Maakaron
JOHN MAAKARON

John Maakaron has covered Detroit Sports since 2013. Brings a vast array of experience covering the Detroit Tigers, Detroit Lions, Michigan Wolverines, Michigan State Spartans, Detroit Mercy Titans, and Oakland University Golden Grizzlies. John brings a wealth of sports broadcast experience. In 2013, John had the vision to establish the Detroit Sports Podcast Network. Has recorded over 3000 podcasts analyzing Detroit Sports. In 2019, Sports Illustrated Media Group, a historical sports media outlet, partnered with Detroit Sports Podcast to provide daily Lions content for their growing and expanding digital media outlet. Our Lions content can also be read in the newspaper at The Oakland  Passionate about Detroit Sports and it is reflected in his coverage of the local teams!