Who Should I Start? Jameson Williams or Ricky Pearsall

Thursday, July 24, 7:06 PM

Detroit Lions wide receiver Jameson Williams has noticed new offensive coordinator John Morton's aggressiveness in his approach to taking deep shots down the field, and it's one of the major areas that Williams thinks he has improved since a year ago, writes ESPN's Eric Woodyard. "My route running -- coach Johnny Mo is letting me run more routes," Williams said. "I knew I could run more routes, but he's putting me in position to run more routes so I'm getting better with cuts and angles and how to run this route and that route, so I would say I'm more polished in my route game." There is a lot of pressure on Morton after Detroit's offense averaged 29 points per game over the last three seasons under Ben Johnson, who is now in Chicago. Williams broke out in 2024, but there are a lot of mouth to feed in this offense, making him a boom/bust WR2/3 target in fantasy.

Sunday, July 27, 1:51 PM

San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Ricky Pearsall (hamstring) was activated from the Physically Unable to Perform list on Sunday, according to ESPN's Nick Wagoner. Pearsall is on the field and in uniform with the rest of the team. The 24-year-old hasn't had great luck with injuries after the Niners took him 31st overall in the first round in 2024. However, he does have a couple things going for him in 2025 if he can stay on the field. First of all, Deebo Samuel Sr. is gone. Secondly, Brandon Aiyuk (knee) probably won't be ready for the start of the season and could miss a good chunk of time. In his first three games, Pearsall had 132 receiving yards and 39 rushing yards. He also finished off the year strong as a prominent member of the passing attack. The opportunity alone makes Pearsall an intriguing WR4/flex target in fantasy drafts.