Since he first emerged late in his rookie season, Detroit Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown has been among the most productive players as his position. Entering Week 16 of this season, he is on track to finish as a top-5 fantasy wide receiver.
While it hasn't hurt their offense, the Lions never really had a consistent WR2 emerge alongside the "Sun God". Jameson Williams sort of did in 2024, but the first 1,000-yard season of his career covered up some legit inconsistency and his efficiency metrics looked ripe for regression.
To start this season it was more of the same for Williams, just with more downs than ups as offensive coordinator John Morton admitted failure in the effort to get him more targets.
Coming off the bye week in Week 8, Week 9 against the Minnesota Vikings looked like a potential turning point for Williams (four catches for 66 yards and a touchdown). But a closer look, namely a 37-yard touchdown in what amounted to garbage time, invited skepticism about the performance being sticky for fantasy purposes.
The Lions are in line for some rare fantasy territory this year
In his "Don't be surprised if..." column heading into Week 16, ESPN fantasy analyst Eric Karabell finished a section of that premise with "two Lions finish among the top-10 wide receiver scorers".
"The Lions finish against the Steelers, Vikings and Bears, with the Steelers and Bears among the easiest teams for wide receivers to accrue fantasy points against. Williams has been dependent on touchdowns the past two seasons, but this recent run of targets is positive for his future. The breakout is finally here."
It's incredibly rare for one team to have two top-10 fantasy wide receivers in a season. The Lions have come close a few times, but they have never done it.
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As Karabell noted, Williams' up-and-down season took a turn for the better when Dan Campbell took over play-calling in Week 10. In five of those six games (entering Week 16) he has had at least seven targets and 88 yards, with more than 100 yards three times and a touchdown in four of those contests.
Over that span, Week 10-15, Williams is a top-five fantasy wide receiver regardless of scoring format. St. Brown is himself a top-eight fantasy receiver regardless of scoring format over that span.
ESPN's default scoring system is full-point PPR, so that's where Karabell's prediction is rooted. Right now, entering Week 16, St. Brown is WR3 in ESPN leagues while Williams is WR12.
Williams is also just over one point away from being the WR10 in full PPR, with a matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers (seventh-most fantasy points allowed to wide receivers) coming on Sunday. Week 18 against the Chicago Bears, who enter Week 16 allowing the fourth-most fantasy points to wide receivers (ESPN scoring), is going to be inconsequential in many fantasy leagues.
Williams is a top-10 fantasy wide receiver outside of full PPR scoring entering Week 16. So he really just has to finish the job over the final two (or three) weeks to join St. Brown in that high-end company and give the Lions a pair of top-10 fantasy receivers in 2025.