The Detroit Lions bested the Washington Football Team, 30-27, on Sunday thanks to a 59-yard, game-winning field goal by Matt Prater as time expired. Going against a very respectable defense without lead receiver Kenny Golladay, the Lions received another solid performance from wideout Marvin Jones Jr. He had eight receptions for 96 yards and a touchdown. With Golladay expected to be back next week for their matchup against the Carolina Panthers, what can Marvin Jones fantasy owners expect moving forward?
Marvin Jones Fantasy Outlook
In Golladay’s three-game absence, Jones has posted 14 receptions for 178 yards and four touchdowns. When “Babytron” comes back, surely quarterback Matt Stafford will be feeding him the ball as much as possible. The question becomes will Jones stay relevant when Golladay is back? In the four games Golladay has played, Jones has posted 24 PPR points, with 12 of those coming against Atlanta. There are two ways to look at Jones moving forward. Either he’ll continue on the path he was on from before, or those games were flukes and he’ll have FLEX appeal.
I’m going to side with Jones having solid FLEX appeal moving forward. For starters, Golladay is certainly no guarantee to be back next week either. Even when Golladay does come back, he’s already missed four games this season due to injury. Will he even be at full strength? In addition, although the fantasy output says Golladay is a WR2 when healthy, the analytics don’t agree.
According to Next Gen Stats, among receivers with at least 43 targets in 2019, Golladay was dead last in average separation per route, at 1.9. If Golladay continues to have trouble getting separation, they might have to throw to Jones. The veteran has proven his abilities to find the end zone much more consistently as well the past three weeks. If Jones can post these numbers with no clear cut WR1, imagine his abilities when he isn’t hassled by top coverage.
I’m not here to say that Jones is an elite option by any means. We all know he’s far from it and serves likely nothing more than a FLEX or low WR3 role. However, you need some solid options on the bench or in the FLEX role to win a fantasy crown. We’ve all seen the rampant injuries league wide. If somebody goes down on your team, do you have the depth to at least somewhat fill the hole? If not, and if Marvin Jones Jr. is available, it would be in your best interest to pick him up.
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