The Lions made a bold move on draft night, trading up in the first round at pick 12 to grab their receiver, Jameson Williams. Williams is a standout Wide Receiver out of the University of Alabama. There were talks on if he would be the first wide receiver taken, even after his ACL tear in the college football championship game.
Williams, the fastest player in the 2022 NFL draft, fell to number 12, and the Lions saw enough. Brad Holmes immediately jumped on the phone, as he traded with first year general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah of the Minnesota Vikings. The Lions moved picks 32, 34, 66 for 12 and 46, to acquire Jameson Williams.
Jameson Williams is expected to start the season on the PUP list. You can be taken off the PUP list at any time during camp, but if you are on the list at the start of the regular season, you would have to miss the first 4 weeks. While Jameson seems to be ahead of schedule, we might not see him play week one.
The question right now is: when will Williams make his debut? Dan Campbell and the Lions are going to take it slow with Williams, and make sure he is fully healthy to make his debut. However, Detroit did decide to slow down the rehab process. Jameson said he wasn’t frustrated with the idea, but it was hard for him to slow down the process.
After being drafted, Jameson did say he would be ready for training camp. That doesn’t seem likely as Campbell said, “I don’t see him being ready for training camp. We’ll see then. I’m very hopeful, but I don’t see it. … I don’t feel like you’ll see him out there day 1.”
At earliest, Jameson could debut week five, against the New England Patriots. Jameson can be taken off the PUP list after 4 weeks. With the Lions having their bye week only six weeks into the season, I would think it is most probable Williams debuts for the LIons week seven against the Dallas Cowboys.
