Brad Holmes Addresses Jameson Williams' Suspension
As the Detroit Lions navigate the post-draft portion of the offseason, they'll continue planning the future of their offense.
For the first six games of the 2023 season, they'll be without talented wideout Jameson Williams. The second-year receiver was suspended for violating the NFL's anti-gambling policy.
Detroit general manager Brad Holmes completed the draft with this setback in mind. The Lions waited until their final pick to take a receiver.
Antoine Green was the team's lone receiver addition in the draft, with the Lions picking him in the seventh round.
Though not possessing the game-breaking speed that the Alabama product offers, Green was a reliable receiver with the ability to play the "X" position at North Carolina.
The third-year general manager explained the impact of Williams' suspension, along with how the newest draft pick can impact the Lions' offense.
"First of all, at the receiver position, you can never really have enough of them. Specifically, with Jameson, he made a mistake," Holmes said. "He made a mistake, he takes accountability of it, he knows it. Yes, he is young, and he understands the mistake that he made. We've had transparent, open conversations about it. We have confidence that he's gonna take the right approach, and have the right response in terms of what he needs to do.
"Feel really good in terms of just having him for the remainder of the offseason program. We'll get him in training camp, and then we'll have a good plan for when he has to depart and when he has to return. I don't think Green can replace Jameson or any of that, but we are happy to get Green in the fold. He does add a vertical-stretching ability."
Though Williams' suspension weighed on the minds of the Lions' brass, it was not a definite factor in the decision.
"Yeah, I mean you obviously think about it when you lose multiple players at one position," Holmes said. "It’s pretty obvious that you have to kind of be rational and be sound and look at all your options. But I tell you, that’s another thing about (RB) Jahmyr, (Gibbs) is that again, I know that people put him at running back, but he does a lot of special things in the passing game. So, that’s another component that we’re really, really excited about. But yeah, you’re aware of it and it’s not overlooked.”
The second-year wideout from Alabama was set to be a big part of the Lions' offense in 2023. He showed flashes of his potential impact last season with a 41-yard touchdown on his only reception of the season.
Offensive coordinator Ben Johnson also showed creativity in using the young receiver. He designed an end-around that ended with a 40-yard run by Williams, along with a flea-flicker that was negated by a penalty in the season finale.
Though there are concerns about the young receiver's maturity given the suspension, Holmes is confident that he'll learn from his mistake.
“Yeah, you know you just have talks with him. I will say, everything, who Jamo is as a person, we are extremely thorough in our research about the human being before we acquire these players," the GM stated. "We know who Jamo is and we have a good system for him and for all of our players. Player development is number one for all of our players. We said that, that was our goal and focus. Jamo is young, he’s gonna continue to mature and he’s gonna continue to grow. So again, some mistakes will be made, but we communicate with Jamo and we treat him like our other players. We hold him to accountability, we’re always clear and transparent with him like all of our players. We just go forward from there but no real concerns going forward. He made a mistake and he takes accountability and I know that he’ll learn from it.”
Without the speedster, the Lions will lean on the likes of Kalif Raymond, Josh Reynolds and new free agent addition Marvin Jones Jr. in addition to budding star Amon-Ra St. Brown.
