There are questions about Jameson Williams heading into his third season, but he has made a list of Lions players he does not belong on.

After a rookie season truncated by recovering from a torn ACL, and the start of his second season delayed by a gambling suspension, things seemed to click for Detroit Lions wide receiver Jameson Williams down the stretch last season. It didn’t always yield notable production, but it was a nice launching point as he now heads into his third NFL season.

Back at the NFL Combine, Lions head coach Dan Campbell said the team is “looking for” Williams to take another step next season. There’s a good bit of hope and projection involved, if we’re being honest, but some Lions’ fans want to act like Williams is somehow guaranteed to have a full-on third-year breakout. Inviting questions related to what the Lions do or don’t do in the draft at wide receiver is a non-starter for some people.

One thing that seems certain is the Lions are not giving up on Williams anytime soon. A decision on his fifth-year option looms a year from now, which is weird to think about. But that’s far more a conversation for down the road. Not right now, or this offseason at all.

Jameson Williams makes list of Lions players he doesn’t belong on

The Lions may look to trade a current player to add a pick during the upcoming draft, and there are some players who make sense. Christian Booher of SI.com recently made a list of five Lions who could be traded during the 2024 draft. As you can guess, Williams is on the list.

“Williams has flashed plenty of the elite talent during his two seasons with the Lions, but hasn’t been able to put together a complete effort. Through two years, he’s played just 18 games and has 24 catches.”

“There’s plenty of potential for him to continue developing into an eventual star. In fact, there’s buzz that he could be on his way to this in his third NFL campaign. Still, this will be a pivotal year for him as he enters what will be his first full season.”
-Christian Booher, SI.com

It’s a fair and factual point that Williams hasn’t done a lot through his first two seasons. But those 18 games are basically one full season. He didn’t play 30 snaps until his ninth career game, and he didn’t play more than 50 percent off offensive snaps until game No. 11 of his career.

There are reasons to be skeptical about Williams, until he shows he can do what he did late last year over a full season and ideally has noteworthy, consistent production. But he is not going to be traded during the upcoming draft, and to even casually suggest it is a huge reach.