"We're going to go through another span where there's a three-game bad stretch for Jameson Williams, where he lets you down, and another three game stretch where he's unbelievable, and you have to start him on a weekly basis, until he lets you down again. This is just who he has been, and who he will always be."
Those are the words of Yahoo! fantasy football analyst Josh Norris, as he and fellow analysts Hayden Winks and Matt Harmon recapped Week 7 on Monday's episode of "Yahoo! Fantasy Football with Josh and Hayden."
Harmon offered a very slight rebuttal, noting how Williams has been among the most productive wide receivers around going back to Thanksgiving last season (17th in fantasy points per game before including Week 7). But even he couldn't escape the bottom line.
"If you can't deal with the ups and downs of Jameson Williams, don't draft him."
As many fantasy analysts like to say, there are no undraftable players, just undraftable ADPs. As in, there are players you should not draft where you'd have to in order to get them in any given year. And with that, it's basically a lock I will never draft Williams.
Williams' high ceiling and low floor is not uncommon for WR2-types in fantasy, as Norris, Harmon and Winks discussed while talking about him after his third straight big game. But the floor is uniquely low to go with a huge ceiling.
Beyond that, you'll nearly always get it wrong when it comes to when to start Williams. One way to combat that is to just start him every week, even just as a flex, with knowledge and acceptance of the range of outcomes. The other way to combat the lineup quandary is to bench Williams, unless a bye week or injury situation dictates starting him, and live with it if he has a big game on your bench.
Fantasy football can be a mix of fun and frustrating, but who needs the extra aggravation attached to rostering Williams?
Jameson Williams remains a sell-high in fantasy football
Heading into the Lions' Week 6 bye, Williams was an easy sell-high for his fantasy managers. Then had five catches for 91 yards and two touchdowns on a season-high nine targets against the Green Bay Packers in Week 7, and Nathan Jahnke of Pro Football Focus is driving the sell-high bandwagon heading into Week 8
"Like other players in the sell high section, the reason to consider moving on is the schedule, as some of the Lions' top matchups are now behind Williams. They face the Minnesota Vikings and Miami Dolphins over the next two weeks, and they are two of the top-four teams at giving up points to receivers. Six of Detroit’s remaining 10 opponents are in the top 12 at preventing points, and the Lions have no matchups left against top-eight teams."
"Williams’ target rate has also remained inconsistent. His two touchdowns against Arizona were his only two receptions in that game. He’s garnered eight or more targets in half of his games, and four or fewer in the other half. Throughout Williams’ career, it’s been a headache to know when to start him and when to sit him. Going forward, there will probably be more weeks to sit him."
READ MORE: Colts' stripdown reveals a sneaky great (if unlikely) trade target for the Lions
Whenever Williams is in the midst of a stretch like the last three games, he is an automatic sell-high for his fantasy managers before the other shoe drops. History says the other shoe will drop, and it'll likely drop hard at some point soon.
Maybe it'll be this week. Maybe it'll be next week. Maybe it'll be Week 11. Good luck predicting when Williams might deliver a two-catch dud. But anyone who drafted him knew what they were getting into, and now it's time to sell at the top of the roller coaster ride, before the vomit-inducing drop.
Add us as a preferred source on Google