Yahoo! fantasy analysts are down on Jameson Williams for 2024

Jameson Williams has had an odd start to his NFL career. A torn ACL in his final college game at Alabama stunted his development as a rookie. Then a gambling suspension cost him the first four games of this past season, costing him development time again.

Williams struggled to earn playing time in his first few games after returning from the gambling suspension. But starting in Week 10, after the bye week, he started to play more. He played over half of the offensive snaps in seven straight games before missing the regular season finale.

That playing time finally started to yield target volume in Week 15, and he had 13 targets in Week 15 and 16 combined. Despite being injured in Week 17, he played 64 percent of the snaps and had 69 yards on two catches in that game.

The curve has changed in recent years, but it used to make sense to target wide receivers entering their third NFL season as breakout candidates in fantasy football drafts.

Williams is on that older-school development track, seemingly lined up for a third-year breakout in 2024.

Yahoo! fantasy analysts not bullish on Jameson Williams' 2024 prospects

Yahoo! fantasy analysts Matt Harmon and Dalton Del Don recently talked about Williams and his 2024 outlook.

First up was Del Don.

"I get that Williams had upside...super fast. I will surprise you and say this young receiver is a guy I'm probably going to be out on at ADP. Williams is like...Detroit's fifth option on offense, and they're a run-first team. I mean, he's literally fifth, behind LaPorta, St. Brown, Montgomery and Gibbs. I mean, on any given play. So I see the potential, he's a guy I'll probably be fading in that situation."

Harmon followed with similar sentiment.

"Jameson Williams doesn't command a lot of targets. He's not one of their top three target-getters. And he doesn't consistently separate enough to be a high-end target earner. Like, that's problematic here as well. So he's still, when you watch him, looks like a developmental player. Which makes sense, because he's had such a weird career so far. So I'm with you. I can't see him being a guy, that if he gets pushed up draft boards I'd be all that excited about."

It's obviously very early for any 2024 fantasy ADP data, and it's relevance outside of dynasty formats is hard to really lend a lot of credence to. But Williams sits at WR47 (pick 111) on My Fantasy League.com and at pick 125 on Sleeper right now. That's 10th-11th round in a 12-team league, and probably a WR4 or WR5.

The results of free agency and the draft will have some say in Williams' 2024 outlook, in real and fantasy terms. His ADP may rise a lot between now and the teeth of draft season, but it's hard to see it getting so high that he'll be someone to absolutely fade.