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As we are inching closer to the start of the NFL regular season, fantasy football is almost in full swing.
Here at RotoBaller, we aim to provide you with as much knowledge and insight as possible to help make the best decisions for your teams on draft day and provide you with the tools to navigate your team through the season as best as possible.
One player who is generating a lot of hype this offseason is Detroit Lions rookie wide receiver, Jameson Williams. After electrifying the college football world with incredible performances last Fall, the dynamic playmaker tore his ACL in the BCS National Championship game. While the injury didn't stop the Lions from moving up to 12th overall to take him on draft day, there are concerns about his readiness for the upcoming season.
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Will Jameson Williams Be Ready For Week 1 Of The NFL Season?
Earlier this week, the Lions officially announced that Jameson Williams would be starting the season on the PUP list, which puts a cloud over his Week 1 readiness in doubt. He suffered his injury on January 10th, 2022.
Surgery was done at Andrews Orthopedic University by Dr. Lyle Cain and it was considered a clean ACL tear with no other damage reported in the knee. Dr. Cain did have a benchmark of Williams being able to return to sports activities within 5-7 months of surgery.
While every player's health and injury status are completely independent of each other, it's worth noting that Chris Godwin suffered a torn ACL around the same time that Williams did and was just cleared for training camp for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
No one knows for certain whether Jameson Williams will be suiting up for the Lions by the start of Week 1 of the season, but the medical reports have been fairly optimistic that Williams' medical situation and recovery are coming along nicely.
There is no need for the Lions to rush Williams back and to play him right away as most of the Las Vegas Sportsbooks have the Lions projected at Over/Under 6.5 wins for the upcoming season.
While the Lions are definitely looking better on paper these days, their approach should be to protect their future star asset and not jeopardize his health for the future.
However, it seems like less of what we know related to major injuries and recovery times are true anymore. As medical science continues to progress, injury recovery times for athletes seem to be less as they were previously, as evidenced by Cam Akers being able to return for the playoffs and play for the Rams only seven months removed from tearing his Achilles tendon.
Jameson Willams Fantasy Football Injury Update
Jeff Mueller is a Doctor of Physical Therapy and analyst for Dynasty League Football who shares a lot of great NFL injury updates and analysis on Twitter. After reaching out to get an opinion on Jameson Williams' injury outlook for the upcoming season, he shared with me the following:
Jameson Williams had surgery the week of January 10th, 2022, with a rough estimate of seven months and 28 days from surgery to Week 1 of the 2022 season. That is significantly below the ideal 9-month threshold for return to play, particularly for a rookie.
Jeff also added that he wouldn't be surprised to see Williams transition to the Reserve/PUP list to start the season and miss at least the first four games.
That would likely come with the Lions ramping up Williams' snap count and production in the late October to early November time frame.
There is a chance the Lions will be extra cautious with their newly-drafted rookie and hold him out for a good chunk of the season. At this point, we just have to mostly wait and see how it all unfolds.
Is Jameson Williams Worth Drafting For Fantasy Football in 2022?
In redraft leagues, Jameson Williams is going pretty late as the WR61 off the board on Underdog. In dynasty, he is going much higher as the WR18. Williams is a dynamic playmaker who can stretch the field and is capable of making some big plays.
Looking at Williams' college stats from the last three seasons, it's clear that he absolutely broke out during his final year at Alabama after not being able to get on the field due to the Buckeyes stocked cavalcade of tremendous wide receiver talent.
| Year | School |
Class |
Pos | G | Rec | Yds | Avg | TD |
| 2019 | Ohio St | FR | WR | 4 | 6 | 112 | 18.7 | 1 |
| 2020 | Ohio St | SO | WR | 6 | 9 | 154 | 17.1 | 2 |
| 2021 | Alabama | JR | WR | 15 | 79 | 1572 | 19.9 | 15 |
Jameson Williams 2022 Fantasy Football Outlook
Jameson Williams put up video game-like numbers for the Crimson Tide in 2021, having 79 catches for 1,572 yards and 15 touchdowns, good for 19.9 yards per catch!
While he is just a rookie, he was undoubtedly the biggest playmaker of all the wide receivers in the 2022 Draft. Williams will have to compete with D'Andre Swift, Amon-Ra St. Brown, D.J. Chark, and T.J. Hockenson for targets, none of those players are the downfield threat that he is. Lions quarterback Jared Goff has been able to support multiple wide receivers for fantasy purposes in years past, so there is no reason to think the same couldn't happen in Detroit.
A superstar like Williams is an absolute buy in dynasty leagues as the WR18 off the board. As we know, wide receivers have a longer lifespan than running backs do in dynasty. Jameson Williams as the WR18 off the board is a relative bargain knowing that he could be your number one wide receiver for the next decade.
While there are some concerns with the health of Jameson Williams for this season, he is a player worth drafting as the WR61 later on in drafts. Even if he were to start the season on the PUP list, he could offer league-winning upside in the second half of the season.
In dynasty startup drafts, we should take advantage of the discount on Jameson Williams because of the injury and uncertainty for 2022. It's not often that a window of opportunity is open like this to grab a franchise cornerstone at such a discounted price.
Conclusion
There is a risk to drafting Williams this season. However, most likely you can likely place him on your league's Injured Reserve and pick someone else up before the start of the season. This approach doesn't hurt your lineup for the short-term and gives you some additional flexibility throughout the course of the season if Williams should return earlier than anticipated.
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