ALLEN PARK -- Before the Detroit Lions went into their bye week, Dan Campbell gave his staff some things he wanted them to work on -- and getting Jameson Williams more involved appears to be one of them.
The fourth-year receiver’s numbers are down a bit from his first seven games last year, but not by much.
However, given that he inked a three-year, $83 million extension ahead of the season opener and Lions offensive coordinator John Morton alluded to him being a big part of the offense before the season started, the production from hasn’t been what was expected.
Consistently being targeted has been a topic of conversation in recent weeks.
Some games, Williams may have only a few targets; in others, it might be six or seven. Or, like in their Week 7 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, it’s only one.
“(There is) no middle ground, only a ceiling, man. We got to get to the ceiling,” Lions assistant head coach Scottie Montgomery said Tuesday. “It’s one of those situations to where it’s one of the things that I studied -- you know, where he is in progression, what happens when he is first, second, third progression -- and it’s been all over the place, right? You know where progression started, and he’s open behind the first progression, or he’s second progression, and we don’t quite connect.
“Or we do everything right -- o-line, everything is right -- and we don’t make a play down the field. So the combination of all those things, and collectively, we just got to get in more ops. He’s got to get more opportunities. We’re working on that and how you get those opportunities.”
While Williams’ numbers are down compared to last season, the drop-off isn’t as drastic as it appears.
Through his first seven games last season -- not the first seven weeks, since the Lions had a Week 6 bye and he missed Weeks 7 and 8 due to a PED suspension -- Williams had 35 targets for 20 receptions, 414 yards, and three touchdowns. He averaged five targets per game and 20.7 yards per reception.
Through seven games this season, he has 30 targets, catching 17 of them for 289 yards, two touchdowns, and 17 yards per catch -- roughly 4.3 targets per game.
In all but two games, though, he hasn’t two or fewer receptions.
As Montgomery noted, the difference isn’t effort, it’s usage: fewer deep shots, slightly less volume, same reliability. One area Montgomery feels is directly linked to Williams’ dip is third downs.
“Third down production and what it means for receivers are more opportunities. What it means for backs are more opportunities, extending those drives,” Montgomery said.
“But third down opportunities, you know, giving them opportunities to be catch and run. A lot of those have been past the sticks. And as you go back and look at around the league, and you just go around and look back in the history of what we’ve done and some of the other places that we’ve kind of studied, a lot of guys now, it’s just a lot more catch and run.
“We’re doing a good job in catch and run in the games that we’re playing well. You’ll see, I think we had one game with almost 170 yards of run after catch. And then the games where, you know, we haven’t done it -- we maybe won the game -- but we just haven’t hit the standard or expectation we have for ourselves. Our runs of catch hadn’t been that great. So we got to sharpen him up on a couple of things in his toolbox. There are also other opportunities that I don’t want to talk about, but we can put him in better positions.”
Opposing teams have played shell coverage on Williams, allowing players such as Amon-Ra St. Brown and Sam LaPorta to benefit on underneath routes. For a receiver, managing targets is part of the process.
“If he wasn’t a little bit ornery right now, it would just signal complacency to me. He hasn’t shown anything in the building or anything on the sideline, which, if we were in a different year, this probably would have happened four or five weeks ago,” Montgomery said.
“But I do think it speaks to his maturity. But he also understands that he is working and doing things the right way. A lot of times, the way that you prepare gives you the confidence, and the way that you do not prepare sometimes creates anger when you don’t have the opportunities or situations don’t go the right way.”
If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.