With three games left in the regular season, it’s safe to say Jameson Williams is delivering exactly what Detroit Lions offensive coordinator John Morton envisioned when he called for a breakout year. And right now, the numbers - and the tape - back it up.
Williams is coming off a strong performance in last week’s loss to the Rams, where he matched his career-high with his seventh touchdown catch of the season. He's now sitting at 52 receptions for 936 yards on the year, putting him within striking distance of surpassing his previous bests in both categories (58 catches, 1,001 yards). With the way he’s trending, those marks are more of a “when” than an “if.”
Head coach Dan Campbell didn’t hold back when asked about his young wideout’s growth.
“I’m proud of him,” Campbell said. “And it’s all him.
The amount of work he’s put in and the amount of stuff that he’s gone through - wherever it came from, however it came - he overcame all of it. He’s grown so much.”
That growth wasn’t immediate. Williams had a slow start to the season and even went without a catch in the Lions’ Nov. 23 win over the Giants.
But since then? He’s been on a tear.
Over the last three games, he’s hauled in seven catches in each contest, with receiving totals of 144, 96, and 134 yards. That’s not just production - that’s momentum.
And while the outside noise has followed Williams since he entered the league, he’s made it clear he’s not playing for headlines or hot takes.
“I’m not into proving people right and wrong,” Williams said. “People got their own opinion of me and whoever else they want to opinionate on.
I just go out there and do my job, play ball, have fun. I don’t really look into feeling people’s expectations.
I want to win, I want to continue to keep playing the game and I want to continue to keep having fun.”
That mindset - focused, grounded, and team-first - has resonated inside the Lions’ locker room. Wide receivers coach Scottie Montgomery emphasized that Williams is still in the “growth process” as a 24-year-old receiver, but the signs of maturity and professionalism are already showing.
“He’s a vet, he’s a pro,” Campbell added. “The way he works, the way he digests the gameplan, what it means to him. He loves to compete, he wants to win and he’s just taken off.”
And speaking of pros, the Lions are heading into a matchup this weekend against one of the NFL’s most respected figures - Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin. Tomlin is one win away from 200 for his career, and a victory over Detroit would mark his 19th straight season finishing .500 or better - a remarkable streak of consistency in a league built on parity.
Campbell didn’t hold back his admiration for Tomlin, calling him “a special coach,” and Montgomery, who worked under Tomlin from 2010 to 2012 in Pittsburgh, echoed that sentiment.
“Great dude. Great guy,” Montgomery said.
“Offseason, I love him to death. In season, this is war.
He has showed me a lot in this business and one of the things that he taught me is that when you’re preparing it’s nameless, gray faces. We have to go prepare no matter who’s on the other sideline and that’s exactly what we’re going to do.
Ton of respect for him, ton of respect for the organization.”
As the Lions gear up for a pivotal late-season test, the spotlight will be on Williams to continue his breakout campaign - and on Detroit to prove it can go toe-to-toe with one of the league’s most battle-tested teams.