Damian

Williams

Williams had one catch for five yards and a drop in Sunday’s opener. The No. 3 receiver spot is not set up for production in Tennessee this season.

The touchdown was Williams’ second in as many weeks, and he looked to be more in sync with Matt Hasselbeck in this one. While Williams is a solid possession receiver, he will struggle to maintain any kind of week-to-week upside as the No. 2 or 3 option in a passing game whose arrow is pointing downward. The Titans now enter a Week 6 bye. Williams is a fantasy WR4.

Palmer quickly got in Williams’ face and cleared the issue up. “Damian told me that, ‘I can beat this guy deep,’ and so we let him go deep, and he’s got it on cruise control, which really gets my blood pressure up. I told him if I die, I told my wife to sue you because you gave me a heart attack,” Palmer said. Williams bounced back, later catching a touchdown and saying afterward he’s on the same page with Palmer. There’s flier appeal here in deeper fantasy formats.

“We’ve looked at every opportunity,” Munchak said. Between this and Munchak’s admission the Titans would consider signing a healthy Terrell Owens, it’s clear Tennessee doesn’t think it’s found an answer at receiver opposite Nate Washington. Damian Williams could move closer to solidifying himself as the Titans’ No. 2 wideout if he’s able to build on a promising Week 5 this weekend, but he’s little more than a speculative flier in deeper leagues for the time being.

“We have a good group (at receiver), but it is really more about Kendall,” Webster said. “He has the speed and the big-play ability, the ability to catch a short ball and turn it into a long run. And he can create some things for us on offense.” Coach Mike Munchak expects Wright to “be able to help right away,” which means less playing time for Damian Williams and Lavelle Hawkins.

Williams’ role is already increasing. He has 33 targets over the past four games compared to 25 for Nate Washington. Hasselbeck and OC Chris Palmer also said third receiver Lavelle Hawkins has “improved greatly” in recent weeks. He could end up eating into Washington’s targets as well.

He had marginally exceeded these catch and yardage totals in 2-of-3 games entering tonight, and had two touchdowns in the four games before Week 9, as well. The injury to Kenny Britt has cleared up a starting role for him, and with Nate Washington suffering a hip injury he’s worth watching heading into Week 10.

Williams’ 43-yard touchdown in the first quarter was a result of pathetic tackling by the Panthers’ secondary. But the second-year man continues to exhibit progress as a route-runner, showing good sideline awareness on a handful of second-half catches. Over the last three weeks, Williams is averaging 4.3 catches for 67.0 yards with two touchdowns. With plenty of plus-matchups remaining, Williams is on the WR3/4 radar for deep leaguers.

Williams came in averaging 20.7 yards per catch in his last two games, but saw fewer targets than Lavelle Hawkins and Jared Cook, and was shutdown by Jacob Lacey. He continues to struggle with his consistency this season with just one 100-yard game and five touchdowns since taking over for Kenny Britt (ACL surgery).

Hawkins’ season-highs of eight catches and 88 yards were an aberration due to the Titans playing from behind at Indy. Tennessee passed on a whopping 51 of Hawkins’ 54 snaps, which won’t happen again. Don’t bother picking up Hawkins for Week 16.