Tyrell Williams

Week 1 vs. San Francisco 49ers

Tyrell Williams enters his first season with the Detroit Lions as the clear-cut top wideout on the team. He missed the entire year after opting out of the 2020 season. When we last saw him in 2019, he caught 42-of-64 targets for 651 yards and six touchdowns. These are underwhelming numbers that don’t really give confidence that he’ll be able to suddenly become a target hog in an offense. Remember, just because an average wideout is the top name in an offense, doesn’t mean that he’ll receive a high target share.

Williams has a tough matchup against a 49ers defense that ranked 14th in aFPA against wideouts last season and now gets back elite pass-rusher Nick Bosa. The upside with Williams is that the Lions will likely be forced into a pass-heavy game-script as they play catch-up against the 49ers. Still, leaving Williams on your bench or monitoring him on the waiver wire looks like the prudent move until we see how usage shakes out in this offense. Keep an eye out for rookie Amon-Ra St. Brown as well.