The Detroit Lions will resume OTAs next week, when “Phase Two” begins. It essentially means that the entire club will get some on-field time together for the first time this offseason, with just rookie minicamp meeting the bill thus far. The Lions made significant expenditures in several undrafted rookies. Wide receiver Isaiah Williams is among them, with a guaranteed salary of $225,000. That suggests he should have been drafted after finishing his career with 82 catches in back-to-back seasons at Illinois. Last season, he led the Big Ten in receptions and ranked second in receiving yards.
However, Williams is undersized (5-foot-9, 182 pounds), and he ran a 4.63 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine. Small and slow is a horrible mix, and NFL teams will overlook what someone performed on the field in college. According to Justin Rogers of the Detroit News, Williams’ agent informed him that over 20 teams were interested in signing him as an undrafted free agent. So, why the Lions? The rookie’s logic sounds familiar these days.
Isaiah Williams about to get close look at footsteps he hopes to follow
Williams hit a familiar note with Rogers on why he chose to sign with the Lions.
“This culture fits me. I’m not a Hollywood-type dude,” Williams said. “I’m not that type of player. I’m going to go out there and grind with a dawg mentality. I feel like that’s Detroit through and through, gritty. That’s how I play the game, that’s my approach to the game. This was the perfect fit.”
The “too small and too slow” draft rating should sound familiar. It’s what dropped Amon-Ra St. Brown to the fourth round of the 2021 draft, when he was the 17th wide receiver selected. It’s also very certainly why fellow Lions wide receiver Kalif Raymond was passed over in the 2016 draft. St. Brown and Raymond are two of the Lions’ hardest-working players. That’s not a judgment on anyone else; it’s a credit to St. Brown’s legendary post-practice JUGS machine routine, which Raymond has adopted. Rogers established the scene following the first practice of rookie minicamp.
Established and accomplished veterans, St. Brown and Raymond weren’t on the field for this weekend’s rookie minicamp. Still, the familiar post-practice whir of the JUGS machine, and the repetitive thud of a football hitting receivers’ hands was present. A half-hour of extra work after his first practice as a member of the Lions, undrafted rookie Isaiah Williams finally left the field.”
Williams’ agent, via Rogers, told him to watch Raymond’s tape to see how an undrafted and undersized receiver can make an impact in the NFL. But St. Brown’s path is also one Williams takes note of.
“Seeing how Amon-Ra was also a guy that ran a 4.6 — not the tallest guy — but on the field, he obviously plays faster,” Williams said. “He’s a ball player. He got an opportunity here, and because he’s a ball player, he’s flourished here. That’s inspired me a lot.”
Following forthcoming OTA workouts, reporters on-site are now waiting to witness a new guy working on the JUGS machine alongside St. Brown and Raymond. Williams appears to have the best road to a 53-man roster place among the Lions’ undrafted rookies, and his efforts to secure that spot will ratchet up next week.
