Members of the Detroit Lions organization have hyped wide receiver Jameson Williams since he arrived in the NFL as a 2022 first-round pick. That hasn’t changed early in training camp this summer.
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While speaking to the media on July 24, Lions No. 1 receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown told reporters to expect big things from Williams this season.
“I think this year is going to be huge for him,” Williams said, via SB Nation’s Pride of Detroit’s Jeremy Reisman. “Actually I know it is.”
St. Brown admitted that he’s said that about Williams “every year.” But he added that Williams “looks more comfortable” and has already scored during training camp practice.
Amon-Ra St. Brown on Jameson Williams: “I know I’ve said this every year, but I feel like this year is going to be huge for him. I actually know it is.”
He said Williams looks more comfortable, and pointed out the two touchdowns he scored on the first day of training camp. pic.twitter.com/mrEP4QUl9X
— Brad Galli (@BradGalli) July 24, 2024
The Lions would certainly love to see Williams in the end zone more often this fall. He scored twice in the NFC championship game, which helped the Lions build a 24-7 halftime lead.
But the San Francisco 49ers responded with 27 straight points during the second half and held on to win, 34-31.
2024 Expectations for Lions WR Jameson Williams
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Members of the Lions organization have been telling the media for months that a big breakout is coming for Williams. It really started in earnest with Lions wide receivers coach Antwaan Randle El in November.
“I think it’s just coming,” Randle El told reporters on November 16, via The Athletic’s Colton Pouncy. “It’s a matter of time.”
Over the offseason, Lions head coach Dan Campbell addressed Williams at the NFL combine and then during the team’s offseason workouts program.
“By the end of the year, we really felt like he started to come into his own,” Campbell said of Williams on February 27. “He’s going to be push to be a full-time starter now, and that’s what we’re looking for.”
On May 23, Campbell referred to Williams as a “man on a mission” to improve this year.
The Lions lost veteran receiver Josh Reynolds in NFL free agency and didn’t replace him with an outside receiver addition. Detroit has budding star pass-catchers Sam LaPorta at tight end and Jahmyr Gibbs at running back to complement St. Brown.
But the Lions still need Williams to emerge as a bigger target to keep the offense as productive as it has been the past two years.
Williams scored only 4 touchdowns in his first 18 regular season NFL games. But he’s been a big-play threat in limited opportunities, averaging 15.8 yards per catch on 25 receptions.
Reynolds, who signed with the Denver Broncos, caught 40 passes for 608 yards and 5 touchdowns for the Lions last season.
Lions’ Goal to Win the Super Bowl
Hyping Williams isn’t the only theme within the Lions organization to begin training camp. Detroit has one goal in mind for the 2024 season — win the Super Bowl.
“That’s our goal. That’s our focus,” St. Brown told reporters on July 24, via ESPN’s Eric Woodyard. “And everything we do from here out, moving forward is to get that Super Bowl.
“Our main goal is the Super Bowl. I feel like everyone in the room is thinking the same way.”
That’s certainly how Campbell is thinking. He told the media during minicamp that he wants “the whole enchilada.”
The Lions haven’t won an NFL championship since 1957 and have never been to the Super Bowl. But the franchise accomplished a lot of things for the first time in decades last season, so winning a Super Bowl doesn’t seem like a lofty goal for the Lions anymore.
Last season, Detroit won its first division title, its first playoff game and advanced to the NFC championship for the first time since the early 1990s.
