Lions vs. Jaguars preview: Why Jameson Williams will dominate weak Jaguars secondary

On By Littum

All aboard the Jameson Williams train! After having a solid start to his third season in the NFL, the Detroit Lions wide receiver found himself in more trouble with the NFL and the law. Williams was suspended for two games for violating the league’s performance-enhancing substance (PES) policy. Outside the NFL, Williams was taken into police custody momentarily during a traffic stop. After all the noise for two weeks, Williams returned last week mod Houston Texas and finished with three catches for 53 yards.

Expect a lot more production out of him this week.

Facing Jacksonville Jaguars this week, who is currently projected to have the number one pick in 2025 NFL Draftshould the lions have a field day with them. Not only the lions are up against the backup quarterback and earlier New England Patriots starter Mac Jones, they’re up against a bad defense. Let me tell you why Williams could have his best game yet in the NFL on Sunday.

Rebound game for Goff = more goals

Lions quarterback Jared Goff had arguably one of the worst games of his career last week against the Houston Texans. While some of Goff’s mistakes aren’t entirely on him, there was plenty of it in that game. Goff will want to erase what happened last week with a better performance against the Jaguars on Sunday. Lucky for him, the Jaguars have one of the worst secondaries in the league (more on that soon).

Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson will create some deep shots for Goff that should be against open receivers instead of contested matchups. While Goff isn’t trying to top the Jaguars secondary, he will want to reverse his completion percentage from last week (50%) and return it to his average of what it was before (78.3%). With that in mind, as well as facing a poor Jaguars secondary, Goff should lean on the passing attack instead of the running game this week.

Whether it’s a deep ball or a catch and run, no wide receiver will benefit more from an angry Goff looking to show that last week was a fluke than Williams. Williams did well in last week’s game, making three catches for 53 yards. Williams was targeted on one of the intercepted deep passes, and there was one earlier in the game that was almost an interception. Still, Goff submitted Williams, something we haven’t seen happen in a while.

If Goff wants to make an explosive play, he knows Williams can be a deadly option, but if he wants to play it safe, Williams can quickly turn a 5-yard slant route into something bigger. Either way, if the Lions turn into a pass-heavy team against Jacksonville, Williams should get more targets and more chances to dominate.

Jags poor secondary game

This week is the perfect recipe for a big game for Williams. The Lions have one of the strongest passing attacks in the NFL, leading the NFL in completion percentage (71.9 percent) and facing a secondary that ranks in the top three in passing yards allowed (2,743), completion percentage allowed (69.9) and yards per attempt (8.0). With the Jaguars struggling to stop teams in every part of their secondary, the Lions should have a field day against this unit. While Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Dallas Cowboysand Los Angeles Rams are in the top three of a few of these categories, they are consistently different from the Jaguars.

Funnily enough with those three teams, Williams has had three of his best four games against those opponents. Against the Bucs, Cowboys and Rams, Williams had 13 catches for 276 yards and two touchdowns. His best career game was against the Rams at the start of the season, as it remains the only game in which Williams eclipsed over 100 yards. Williams is an explosive player who can make explosive plays quickly, so facing another bad secondary invites Williams to take over again.

As for the Jaguars in the secondary that would take on Williams, the main focus would be the safeties. Jaguars safeties Andre Cisco and Antonio Johnson are both having their worst seasons to date in the NFL, according to PFF.

Cisco

  • PFF grade – 52.5
  • Goal – 24
  • Receptions – 17
  • Yards allowed – 358
  • Touchdowns Allowed – 3
  • Penalties – 1

Johnson

  • PFF grade – 39.7
  • Goal – 23
  • Receptions – 16
  • Yards allowed – 207
  • Touchdowns Allowed – 1
  • Penalties – 3

It doesn’t get much better if you want to include cornerbacks. Starting cornerbacks Ronald Darby and Tyson Campbell struggle in coverage, and if Campbell can’t go this week, as he was limited in practice Wednesday and Thursday, Montaric Brown will take his place. Brown would be a step down for Campbell and put the Jags secondary in an uphill battle.

Darby

  • PFF grade – 59.8
  • Goal – 52
  • Receptions – 38
  • Yards allowed – 510
  • Touchdowns Allowed – 4
  • Penalties – 3

Campbell

  • PFF grade – 62.6
  • Goal – 22
  • Receptions – 13
  • Yards allowed – 139
  • Touchdowns Allowed – 0
  • Penalties – 3

Brown

  • PFF grade – 67
  • Goal – 47
  • Receptions – 33
  • Yards allowed – 348
  • Touchdowns Allowed – 2
  • Penalties – 3

Williams tries to hit his target

Before the season started, Williams had two big personal goals. It would lead the NFL in yards and touchdowns. He’s far from the leader right now in either category, trailing Williams’ 414 yards and three touchdowns Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase, who leads the league in yards (981) and touchdowns (10). Williams is unlikely to reach that goal this season, but anything is possible with eight games left to play.

If Williams didn’t miss two games due to his suspension, he might have a better chance of hitting that goal, or at least one of them. With the lost time, Williams could make up for it with bigger plays from here. Being down this far could also motivate him to work harder and stay on a good path for the rest of the season to try to reach that goal. Despite wanting to hit the goals he set before himself, Williams wanted to take his team’s success and Super Bowl chances over his own goals.