Jameson Williams

Wide receivers these days almost always break out within their first two seasons or not at all, but Nico Collins proved in 2023 that the third-year breakout isn't totally dead. Williams also has better excuses than most, having suffered an ACL tear at the very end of his college career and then missing the first six games of 2023 for a gambling suspension (ok, maybe that second part isn't such a good excuse...). The other good news? He's still only 23, his elite speed is evident to the naked eye, he'll be playing in a top offense, and the Lions don't have anyone else suited to the WR2 role. Of course, they don't necessarily need the WR2 to be a volume guy given their numerous other weapons, nor have they shown any signs of being the type of team that would force a player targets just because he was a 12th overall pick. Williams will need to earn everything he gets, just as he did as a 20-year-old at Alabama in 2021 (79-1,572-15) following two seasons of obscurity at Ohio State behind Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson. Unfortunately for fantasy managers, there is an outcome where Williams takes a big step forward in 2024 from a real-life standpoint but still doesn't see enough targets to be a reliable fantasy starter, as he'll still be in an offense that wants to feed WR Amon-Ra St. Brown, TE Sam LaPorta and RBs Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery. While a truly elite player could force his way into that picture, Williams appears more on track to land somewhere between 'star' and 'bust'.