When will Jameson Williams be back, and will he ever re-gain his 4.3 speed? NFL WRs can return as early as 8-9 months post-ACL, but they average 10-11. Data shows a temporary dip in production that lasts until 12-18 months post-injury. Luckily for Williams, young players in their primes tend to bounce back more quickly, and first-round picks see less of the adverse long-term effects – like shorter careers and fewer total games played – usually associated with WR ACL tears.
Williams says he wants to be aggressive about his return timeline, but it’s hard to imagine a team investing a first-round pick and rushing him back with a higher re-injury risk. Although he could make it back around the start of the season, we expect to see him fall closer to the average 10-month timeline for WRs, putting his debut around Week 10 in November.
Long-term, elite WRs reliably do get back to prior levels. Look no further than Super Bowl standouts Cooper Kupp and Odell Beckham Jr. (before his re-tear) for evidence there. Expect a similar comeback for Jameson Williams. For fantasy owners, the bottom line is simple. Have Williams high on your radars this offseason, especially in dynasty leagues. Re-draft teams with keeper slots, generous roster limits, and/or IR spots should also make him a high priority on the watch list. The only format where he’s not a great target is a re-draft league with a small roster size and no keepers or IR.
NFL Draft: Alabama WR Jameson Williams Ahead of Schedule?
While we are confident that Jameson will bounce back, the first 2/3 of his season projects to be unreliable for your starting lineups. Through SportsMedAnalytics, we’ve built an NFL injury database and AI-driven predictive model to project player performance coming off of injury. The algorithm factors in athletic metrics, draft stock, and injury profile, among other variables, and it projects Williams at 90% of pre-injury levels by the last 1-2 months of the ’22 season. Before that, you’re either going to see Williams play at less than full speed or continue to rehab and train without playing.
Still, there is significant potential for savvy fantasy owners to gain an advantage here. Fresh injuries drop perceived value, but unless every professional draft analyst is totally off base, Williams should bounce back to stud WR levels. With Green Bay, Kansas City, and Buffalo all needing WR help and plenty of draft-day trade ammo, we could be looking at a top 10 WR for the next 10 years.
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