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WR Roy Williams, Detroit Lions

HT: 6-2, WT: 212, Born: 12-20-1981, College: Texas, Drafted: Round 1, Pick 7

2008 Projections

2007 Game Summaries

Week 1 - The focus of the Oakland pass defense, Williams posted just 20 yards, but did manage a 13 yard score in the first half. Prophetic in the pre-game warm-ups, he predicted the Lions' receivers would post three or four touchdowns.

Week 2 - Williams was, at times, unstoppable. Even losing his helmet during a long reception didn't seem to deter him. After hauling in a 42 yard bomb down the seam, he broke a tackle on which his helmet popped off his head. Rather than retreating to the ground, Williams simply regained his composure and took off down the sideline for another 18 yards or so after the catch -- without a helmet on. Williams had earlier made a nice snag on a touchdown across the back line of the end zone in the first quarter. It wasn't all good for Williams, as he lost what could have been a costly fumble during a catch and run in red zone during the fourth quarter. He displayed excellent moves after the catch and even added a nine yard run. In fact, that run could have easily been a huge pain and possibly a touchdown had lineman Domanick Raiola been able to hold his block rather than almost completely miss. Williams was the intended target on a pass in the end zone from Kitna on the Lions' opening possession that was intercepted by Darren Sharper.

Week 3 - Williams would have a big game again as the Lions had to throw the ball almost the entire game, and he was QB Jon Kitna's main target throughout the game. He caught a short sideline pass on the second series of the game and took it 54 yards down the sideline to set up Detroit's first touchdown. Had a great scoring opportunity in the second quarter on the goal line, but QB Jon Kitna threw a little short and he couldn't bring the ball in. Williams had a huge play on a quick slant where he got behind the defender and out ran the Eagles secondary for a 91 yard touchdown in the second quarter. He finished the half with big numbers hauling in five catches for 167 yards and one touchdown.

Williams' second half started off shaky as he dropped an easy catch that would have been a big gain and a first down for the Lions. He would come back and catch a 24 yard pass early in the fourth quarter, but that would be his only significant play in the half. He finish the half with four catches 37 yards in the second half as he faced a lot of double teams with WR Calvin Johnson out of the game.

Week 4 - Williams drew lots of attention from the inexperienced Bears secondary, was held to 53 yards, but he caught every pass thrown to him.

Week 5 - Williams was well covered most of the game, only targeted three times, all in the second half. Williams managed to haul in all three targets for 36 yards, but was frustrated by a mix of man and zone coverage the whole game.

Week 7 - Williams was nearly as absent from the offense as the rest of the receivers on the squad. The first pass thrown to him bounced off his hands and straight up in the air, but Williams was able to find it and regain possession before being tackled. Aside from that odd reception, however, he didn't do anything that distinguished himself from anyone else. What's more, he wasn't thrown to even once in the entire second half (though it should be noted that the Lions only threw the ball eight times after halftime).

Week 8 - Williams drew a long pass interference penalty in the first quarter, but didn't catch his first pass until late in the second quarter on an 11 yard reception. He added one more catch for 24 yards late in the first half. Williams came close to scoring on a six yard catch to the Chicago three yard line where he was tackled by his ankles to keep him from scoring. Williams would have six more catches in the second half for 42 yards. He led the team with eight catches and 13 targets in the game.

Week 9 - Williams was targeted a team high tying nine times, but caught only three passes for 44 yards in the game. Kitna tried to hit Williams on a pass in the end zone, but Williams either did not see the pass or just gave up on it too soon. He also dropped a pass that was thrown slightly behind him.

Williams lost eight yards on an end around play that was snuffed out by the defense.

Week 10 - Williams was the Lions' most targeted receiver with 13 balls thrown his way. He finished the contest with six catches for 45 yards and two touchdowns, both seven yards. His touchdowns were the jump ball variety where Kitna threw the ball high allowing Williams to out leap the defender and make great catches. Williams did have a 47 yard touchdown nullified in the fourth quarter by an illegal formation penalty, but scored on the drive eight plays later.

Week 11 - Roy Williams saw another game with double digit targets, as he was able to bring in six of his 11 receptions for 106 yards. He as usual made some amazing catches in traffic and was dominant against any corner that was covering him.

Week 12 - It may have simply been an aberration, or it may have been the beginning of the passing of the torch in the Detroit passing game. Or it may have also been that Al Harris covered Roy Williams for the majority of the afternoon. Whatever the case may be, the fact is that Calvin Johnson had more than twice as many targets as Roy Williams (15-7) and was looked to far more often in critical spots. The Lions almost force-fed the ball to Johnson, and Williams was left to pick up the leftovers. He didn't record his first reception of the game until three minutes remained in the first half. Late in the third quarter, Williams beat his defender deep down the field along the sideline, but Kitna overthrew him by a good margin. Later in the fourth quarter, he did catch a pass over the middle and was taken down at the four yard line. But that was the closest he came to scoring, and he was never looked to in the end zone.

At one point during the telecast, FOX broadcaster Troy Aikman seemed to call Williams out for his work ethic, or lack thereof. He said of Williams, "He needs to decide if he wants to put the work in to become great, or if he just wants to be really good". While Aikman can be overly critical at times, he is usually regarded as one of the fairest broadcasters in the league. And his words carry a lot of validity. If Williams truly isn't putting forth the effort he needs to, then even if Calvin Johnson didn't *officially* pass him by today, it will certainly only be a matter of time before he does.

Week 13 - Williams started the game on fire, and was Jon Kitna's primary read early and often. They connected on a variety of passes, over the middle, deep down the sideline, and ever short passes were turning into good gains. Everything was working. However, Williams suffered an injury to his knee. He was seen on the sideline with his knee heavily bandaged before the end of the first half. He briefly returned in the second half, but was in street clothes by the fourth quarter.