Dan Campbell calls Jameson Williams "a man on a mission." Sam LaPorta says -- "holy crap!" -- "he looks much more comfortable this year." And Lions wide receivers coach Antwaan Randle El, who's worked closely with Williams over the last two seasons, said this week, "Just about everything that we’ve talked about for him, improving and helping our offense, he’s hit."
"And one of the biggest things was just his strength, in terms of his route running and not getting pushed off the spot," said Randle El, one of the tougher receivers in the game over his nine years in the NFL.
Williams heeded the Lions' advice this offseason. He admitted last month that "I don't usually lift," then pumped his arms and said, "I've been in that weight room. I do hard time." He looks stronger to the eye, more stable in his lower half with a little more bulk up top.
"You see that show up more and more, which has benefited us an offense, and you can see him taking it to another level," said Randle El. "It helps him even getting in and out of his routes, the strength that he’s built in his legs. You can see the difference."
Williams was tested often this spring by Carlton Davis III, Detroit's new No. 1 corner. Davis III is long and physical and plays under your chin. As Randle El put it, "He’s not a guy you can just one-step. You gotta really move him off the spot and get going. That takes time as a wide receiver, but you gotta have strength to be able to do it."
Williams' best catch of the spring in practices open to the media came on a deep ball down the sideline from Jared Goff where he gained half a step on Davis III and then fought him off to make an over-the-shoulder grab, getting both feet in bounds. These are the kind of plays the Lions are counting on Williams to make in his third season, in the wake of Josh Reynolds' departure.
Davis III said earlier this offseason that he's already making Williams better: "That’s what I’m here to do. I’m here to make him one of the best receivers in the league, man. That’s my goal." And that should be the expectation for a receiver drafted 12th overall, even after a slow start to his career. Williams has always had the speed. By his own admission, he also "had some little childish ways" when he arrived in the NFL.
"Wanted to do what I wanted to do, and how I wanted to do it," he said. "But sometimes you gotta listen and just get on the right track."
When Randle El was asked about the coaches' commands for Williams other than getting stronger, he laughed and said, "We should leave it at that one. That’s the only one that needs to be out there."
"There was a lot of ‘em, but all that he’s hit. It’s been great, just where he was at the end of the year as to where he is now, and how he’s gotten there, he’s really worked at it," said Randle El.
"I think I've matured a lot more," said Williams.
He also talked this spring about being more detail-oriented, in an offense where every detail matters. It's not enough to just run the route as it appears in the playbook, which, to borrow a metaphor from Dan Campbell, is like reading directly from the teleprompter a la Ron Burgundy. Williams needs to work in concert with Goff to where the quarterback and receiver are singing from the same hymn sheet.
Williams can't just be a deep threat or a decoy this year. The Lions need him to be a trusted No. 2 for Goff behind Amon-Ra St. Brown, as steady as he is explosive. That means growing his game to run more routes through traffic, which should come with growing his frame. He snatched passes with more authority this spring.
"Now that he has that strength, he can get in and out of his cuts and be in spots quicker than he was last year and obviously the year before coming off that ACL," said Randle El. ""So it’s good to see. His route tree has expanded and we want to continue to help him expand it, because he’s definitely going to help us in our offense."