With his NFL debut on the horizon, Lions rookie wide receiver Jameson Williams is now a suitable fantasy football waiver wire add.
Back in the late summer, with when he’d be recovered from a torn ACL and able to play up in the air, it didn’t make a lot of sense to “draft and stash” Detroit Lions rookie wide receiver Jameson WIlliams in anything but the deepest and largest fantasy football leagues.
As he’s gotten closer to a possible debut and bye weeks wind down, adding Williams to a fantasy roster has become more palatable and his rostered rates have risen a bit. Getting on the field in December has been put there by head coach Dan Campbell, and Williams began practicing last Monday.
On Thanksgiving morning NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport had a promising report, suggesting there’s a good chance Williams plays in Week 13 against the Jacksonville Jaguars if he makes it through a normal practice week this coming week “unscathed.”
The #Lions obviously won't have rookie WR Jameson Williams today, but as he looks to return from a torn ACL in college, he's coming soon. This week's wasn't a full-speed practice, but next week's will be. If he makes it through unscathed, there is a good chance he's activated.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) November 24, 2022
Now’s the time to add and stash Jameson Williams in fantasy
It’s fair to assume Williams will be on a snap count in his first game or two back. So it’ll be impossible to confidently put him right into a fantasy lineup in normal-sized leagues, and hope for a big play or two to justify doing it in some critical weeks.
That said, the Jaguars and the Minnesota Vikings (the Lions’ Week 14 opponent) both entered Week 12 in the bottom-eight of the league in fantasy points allowed to wide receivers (Yahoo!, 0.5-point PPR). Week 15 against the New York Jets is a tougher matchup, then things get easier again in Week 16 (Carolina Panthers) and Week 17 (Chicago Bears).
Based on talent alone, Williams is now well worth having on a fantasy roster for the remaining weeks, in leagues with 12 or more teams–even if he never quite makes it to being in your lineup. But he’s joining a Lions’ offense that has been pretty good to this point in the season, so there’s a path to production if he hits the ground running.
As of Sunday morning, Nov. 26, Williams is rostered in 39 percent of Yahoo! leagues and 20.8 percent of ESPN leagues. So he should be on Week 13 waiver wire lists as a WR4/WR5 option in appropriate leagues (again, 12 or more teams), and this is finally the week he’s a bit more than a highly speculative add.