JONES BEARS WATCHING THIS WEEK
Lions receiver is putting up big stats this season; expect it to continue Sunday at Soldier Field
Just the Bears’ luck. They’re 0- 3 and beat up on defense, and now they get to face the Lions and their red- hot receiver.
It’s not Calvin Johnson anymore. He traded in his cleats for dancing shoes. Marvin Jones is now the apple of quarterback Matthew Stafford’s eye, and he’ll come to Soldier Field as the yardage leader and top scorer among wide receivers.
Jones has been fantasy- relevant before. In 2013 with the Bengals, he had 10 touchdown catches. But playing in A. J. Green’s shadow, Jones’ career high in yards was 816 last season. He already has half that this season ( 408).
After posting 205 yards on six catches Sunday, Jones is on pace for 2,176 yards. Clearly, that’s unsustainable, and it might have you thinking about selling him high. But what is sustainable is his role in the offense. Jones has taken the No. 1 spot from incumbent Golden Tate, who has fallen to fifth on the team in receiving yards after trailing only Johnson last season. You’ll want to keep Jones around.
He’ll see plenty of action in an offense with a middling running game that’s reliant on the pass. The Lions threw the fourthmost passes last season and have thrown the seventh- most this season. And they’re not shy about throwing long. Stafford ranks fourth in the league with an average of 8.2 yards per pass, and Jones caught touchdown passes of 73 and 35 yards Sunday.
Plus, with a defense that ranks 21st in yards allowed, the Lions figure to be in many high- scoring games. They got into a shootout with the Colts inWeek 1 ( 39- 35 win) and had to play catch- up against the Packers inWeek 3 ( 34- 27 loss).
All this adds up to a big year for Jones, a sure- handed receiver who can excel running any route. He is a must- start, and he has a good matchup this week against a Bears defense with a poor pass rush and a suspect secondary.
Beyond the box score
Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor has had an erratic start to the season, but what will keep him relevant is his rushing ability. In new coordinator Anthony Lynn’s first game, Taylor ran nine times for 76 yards and a touchdown. In Weeks 1- 2, he ran seven times for 36 yards. If this keeps up, Taylor can compensate for a bad day passing.
Raiders running back Latavius Murray has a touchdown run in three consecutive games, but don’t let that inflate his value. Here’s the team’s distribution of carries in the last two games combined: Murray 18, DeAndre Washington 13, Jalen Richard 12. Murray is a low- end RB2 at best.