Ben Johnson explains plans for Jameson Williams in Year 2

The Lions offensive coordinator said Jameson Williams will be ‘all over the place’ in 2023.

The Detroit Lions didn’t get a ton of production out of first-round pick Jameson Williams in his rookie season. Williams pulled in just one of nine targets—although that one catch went for a 41-yard touchdown.

Part of this was by design. Williams wasn’t activated until Week 13 of the season, allowing the young receiver to fully recover from his torn ACL suffered last January. Even when he returned, he was on a pretty strict pitch count, playing between 8-18 snaps in the six games he appeared in.

But heading into the offseason, the Lions have big plans for Williams. Now he’ll have an entire offseason to prepare, which not only includes OTAs, minicamp, and training camp but also off-campus work with quarterback Jared Goff.

“Yeah, he’ll be there. He’ll be invited,” Goff told DetroitLions.com’s Tim Twentyman last week at the Super Bowl. “I hope he can make it. I’m still working on all the dates for all that stuff, but, yeah, certainly he’ll be there. I’m excited to get a lot of work with him this offseason and getting on the same page.”

Offensive coordinator Ben Johnson is also excited to get his hands on Jameson Williams more. In a separate conversation with Twentyman, Johnson explained how eager the young receiver is to make his impact on this league.

“We’ve had some great conversations with Jamo, even since the season ended,” Johnson said. “I know his mind is going to be right when he gets back in there in the springtime. He’s really looking forward to taking that next step as a player and really make a big impact on this league.”

While Williams is more thought of as an outside receiver capable of stretching defenses and opening up opportunities for other receivers in the middle of the field, Johnson explained that the Lions plan to move the 6-foot-2 receiver all over the formation.

“We’ll move him around. He’ll be all over the place for us,” Johnson said. “I know this, when you get speed in the slot, that’s very hard to defend for a defense. So there’ll be times we do that, there’ll be times he’s X. He’ll be Z, but there’s a lot he can do.”

Combining Williams’ versatility with a weapon like Pro Bowler Amon-Ra St. Brown could produce explosive results, especially for an offense that already finished last season fifth in points scored.