INDIANAPOLIS — The Detroit Lions are making big plans to get more out of explosive wide receiver Jameson Williams next season, and that could include using him on returns.
Lions special teams coordinator Dave Fipp embraced the idea of incorporating Williams into a return role next season, when the team expects him fully healthy after missing most of last season while rehabbing from a torn ACL.
“I don’t totally know the answer to it, only because he is just kind of coming back,” Fipp said when asked if he’s open to using Williams as a kick returner in 2023. “He’s done it. I mean, when you talk to him — there’s one thing I love about him. Like, he wants to do everything. The guy loves playing. ‘Be a gunner? I’ll be a gunner. I want to be the punt returner, too. I got kick return, too, I would have housed that one.’ And I think the great players are like that, and they want to do all that stuff. So we’ll just see how it goes.”
Williams returned two kicks for touchdowns in his one season at Alabama, when he averaged 35.2 yards on 10 kick returns. One of the college football’s best receivers in 2021, Williams tore his ACL in Alabama’s national championship game loss to Georgia and played limited snaps in six games with the Lions last season.
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Lions coach Dan Campbell said he planned to use Williams as a gunner on punt team in his first NFL game, but the Lions never got the opportunity as the Jacksonville Jaguars failed to force a punt.
As a receiver, Williams caught one pass for a 41-yard touchdown last season, had three drops on nine targets and had one carry for 40 yards.
On Wednesday, Lions general manager Brad Holmes praised Williams’ “rare talent, rare ability (and) serious passion for the game,” and said the team was “expecting big things” from last year’s No. 12 overall pick in 2023.
“The goal when we originally drafted him, we didn’t know really how much we were going to get out of him but it was good to have him get some kind of game experience to kind of feel the speed of the game,” Holmes said. “But yeah, we’re just gong to continue to do everything that we need to do to make sure that he’s set up to succeed. Jameson also has to hold his part and make sure that he’s doing everything that he needs to do. So it’s always an accountability factor on both sides, but we expect big things from him.”
Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson said Williams is on par with Cleveland Browns receiver Jakeem Grant as the fastest player he’s ever coached.
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Grant, who is six inches shorter than the 6-foot-1 Williams, has made his biggest impact in the NFL as a return man.
“Obviously, it would be great to see him back there (as a returner) if that’s what his role provides,” Fipp said. “But I’ve said this all along a million times is it just depends on their role on offense and defense to what their role is going to be on special teams. Their role on special teams is more influenced by offense and defense than it is on what he can do on teams.”
The Lions used backup receiver Kalif Raymond as their primary punt returner and No. 3 running back Justin Jackson as their top kick returner last season. Jackson is a pending free agent, while Raymond is coming off the best season of his career.
Fipp said it sometimes makes more sense to use a complmentary player in a return role so they can devote more energy to the craft, and he cited former NFL receiver DeSean Jackson, who he coached with the Philadelphia Eagles, as an example.
Jackson was one of the NFL’s best return men early in his career, but less effective as a returner after taking on a bigger role at receiver.
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“It’s hard to ask a guy to do all those things at a really high level, and people don’t realize that,” Fipp said. “They’re like, ‘Well, just throw him back there.’ And it’s like, ‘Well, yeah, that’s good, but what happens when the ball’s punted to that side of the field, we thought it was going to be over (on the other) side of the field and he’s like, ‘Oh, (expletive), I got to go over there.’ Like, ‘Damn, I don’t think I got that in me right now,’ as opposed to the guy who’s coming off the bench and like, ‘Dude, I just want to play right now. There’s no way I’m going to let that ball hit the ground. I’m going to go track that thing down.’
“There’s just a difference in there, and that difference makes an exponential difference on the field of play with the whole group.”
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.