Lions' WR Jameson Williams placed firmly on hot seat heading into 2024 NFL Draft

Things clearly clicked for Detroit Lions wide receiver Jameson Williams down the stretch last season. He got lots of playing time, did not drop a single pass for a stretch and he generally looked sharp in all aspects. Opportunities for production didn't always come, but he usually made a difference when they did.

Looking toward his third season, Lions head coach Dan Campbell outlined expectations for Williams' continued growth.

"He progressed and when he was able to come back off, when got him week four of the season after he had the suspension, all we asked of him was growth," Campbell said......And you can see, by the end of the year, we really felt like he started to come into his own. He is gonna push to be a full-time starter now. And that's what we're looking for."

Williams will be on a lot of lists of breakout candidates for 2024, angled toward fantasy football or not. The question in fantasy terms is if, even in a bigger role from the get-go next season, if the target volume will be there to foster a full-on third-year breakout.

Hopes are high for Williams, but there's still a good bit of hope and projection in his outlook. Wide receiver may be on the radar for the Lions in the upcoming draft, and if/where they take one stands to say something about the team's true faith in Williams.

Jameson Williams placed on hot seat heading into the draft by Yahoo! analyst

Matt Harmon of Yahoo! recently came out with a list of veteran players who could be pushed out of the way by a rookie. It's somewhat fantasy-tilted, but it makes sense beyond that in most of the cases.

Williams made the list, and here's what Harmon wrote.

"The Lions will tell anyone who wants to listen that they have all the faith in the world in their former first-round wide receiver. But at this point, Jameson Williams’ career doesn’t paint the picture of a reliable player. It would be hard to blame them if they don’t want to walk into the season with him as their unchallenged WR2 behind Amon-Ra St Brown after Josh Reynolds' exit."

"It wouldn’t be a total shock to see the Lions get a pure perimeter receiver at the 29th overall selection, but they do have bigger fish to fry from a needs perspective. Still, even a Day 2 rookie who could push for playing time would be problematic for Williams’ target projection. He doesn’t have much room for error considering that, even in a best-case scenario, he will be fifth on the team in pure opportunities no matter what behind St. Brown, Sam LaPorta and the running back duo."

It's hard to envision the Lions actively usurping Williams' by using notable draft capital on a wide receiver. But it's hardly out of the question, if only because he's so unproven and he's not the only question mark on the wide receiver depth chart after Amon-Ra St. Brown.