For the second straight year, Jameson Williams will not be able to begin the season on the field for the Detroit Lions. Because of that, Bleacher Report’s Alex Ballentine has low expectations for the 2022 first-round pick.
Actually, Ballentine flat out projected Williams to be a huge disappointment this fall.
Ballentine predicted the 22-year-old to be Detroit’s biggest bust for the 2023 NFL season.
“It’s concerning that it’s going to be a second season where the normal rhythm of playing on a weekly basis will be interrupted,” wrote Ballentine.
“For Williams to live up to expectations he’s going to have to hit the ground running. That’s a big ask for a guy who just hasn’t seen much NFL action yet.”
It’s not that surprising to see Williams appear on a list like Ballentine’s, who needed to name a bust for each team. Williams has experienced a difficult offseason, mostly due to his six-game suspension from gambling violations.
Lions’ Jameson Williams Predicted to be 2023 Bust
It was different circumstances, but Williams didn’t do all that well in 2022 after missing the beginning of the season.
Williams debuted in Week 13 because of an ACL injury he sustained during his final game at Alabama. The ailment prevented Williams from receiving valuable offseason reps and training camp time ahead of his rookie year.
He made two big plays in the final six games of 2022 — one was a 41-yard touchdown catch against the Minnesota Vikings. Then against the Chicago Bears, he had a 40-yard carry.
But those were his only two touches of the season. He received eight other targets and didn’t catch any.
Williams will be sidelined until mid-October because of gambling suspension. The good news the suspension hasn’t prevented him from being on the field this offseason. He should continue to gain valuable reps with the first-team offense until the end of the preseason.
Perhaps that will help him make a smoother transition when he makes his 2023 debut during Week 7.
Williams’ Rough Offseason
As if a six-game suspension wasn’t enough, Williams has been at the center of other drama this offseason as well.
More than a month prior to the NFL announcing his suspension in late April, Williams received criticism for liking a tweet that proposed the Lions replace quarterback Jared Goff with Baltimore Ravens 2019 MVP Lamar Jackson.
On April 25, a day after receiving his six-game suspension, Williams posted a video while he was at a boxing match in Las Vegas.
The receiver got into hot water again with another video on his social media accounts on July 4. Williams posted a video of himself celebrating the holiday with fireworks.
Detroit sports radio host Mike Valenti of 97.1 The Ticket was one of his biggest critics of his use of fireworks.
“If you’re an NFL player in a prove-it stage in your career, I don’t care if you’re Jamo or Jared Goff or anybody in between, I don’t want to see my players, two weeks before camp, lighting fireworks,” Valenti said on July 5. “That’s full-stop.”
With those multiple controversies, Williams has become a polarizing figure. Some members of the media have heavily criticized the receiver at every misstep while others, mostly fans, have taken it upon themselves to defend the 22-year-old.
Ballentine didn’t dive into all of his controversies, but he chose the critical route when forced to choose a Lions player to underperform during 2023.
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Fans Put on Notice Ahead of Jameson Williams’ 2nd Season With Lions