Tag: Marvin Jones Jr.

Jaguars awarded 2 compensatory picks, ending 13-offseason drought

The Jaguars received compensatory draft picks for the first time in a long time.

For the first time since 2010, the Jacksonville Jaguars were awarded compensatory draft picks.

On Friday, the NFL announced that the Jaguars received a third-round pick (No. 96 overall) and a sixth-round pick (No. 212 overall) for the losses of Jawaan Taylor and Arden Key, respectively. Taylor joined the Kansas City Chiefs in free agency on a four-year, $80 million contract while Key signed with the Tennessee Titans on a three-year, $21 million deal.

Compensatory selections are awarded to teams that suffer net losses in free agency. While the Jaguars have lost plenty of other players in the last 13 offseasons, the team’s frequent spending nullified the opportunity to receive picks for those losses. For example, when wide receiver Allen Robinson and cornerback Aaron Colvin left the Jaguars in 2019, big contracts for offensive lineman Andrew Norwell and wide receiver Donte Moncrief erased the chance to get 2020 draft picks.

In 2023, the Jaguars largely stood pat in free agency, opting to focus their efforts on retaining their own players rather than hunting through the market. Jacksonville narrowly missed earning two more compensatory picks too, as tight end Chris Manhertz and wide receiver Marvin Jones Jr. both received qualifying contracts that weren’t quite lucrative enough to earn a seventh-round pick.

With the addition of the two selections, the Jaguars have nine selections in the 2024 NFL draft.

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Jaguars’ projected 2024 NFL draft picks after trade deadline

The Jaguars still have plenty of draft capital to spare after sending a sixth-round pick to the Vikings for Ezra Cleveland.

The Jacksonville Jaguars gave up a sixth-round draft pick Tuesday to acquire offensive lineman Ezra Cleveland from the Minnesota Vikings. But even after losing the late-round pick, the Jaguars have plenty of 2024 NFL draft capital to spare.

With the draft just under six months away, here are the picks currently owned by the Jaguars:

There won’t be any more trades until the NFL’s 2024 league year begins on March 14, so the picks are mostly set for the time being. There are still the parameters of the Ridley trade that need to be finalized with the Jaguars’ fourth-round selection appearing unlikely to be the pick that gets sent to Atlanta.

Compensatory selections will be officially announced at some point during the NFL’s annual league meeting scheduled for March 24-27, 2024. While there’s no doubt that the loss of Taylor will net Jacksonville a third-round pick, there’s a chance that the loss of Key could land the Jaguars a fifth-rounder instead of a sixth-rounder.

The losses of tight end Chris Manhertz and wide receiver Marvin Jones Jr. are also eligible to count in the compensatory formula, but are unlikely to reach the threshold for a seventh-round selection.

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Dan Campbell: Lions ‘feel pretty good’ at wide receiver after losing Marvin Jones

Dan Campbell: Lions ‘feel pretty good’ at wide receiver after losing Marvin Jones in advance of the NFL trade deadline

Anytime a team unexpectedly loses a player who was on the field for half the snaps, there is a void. The Detroit Lions are facing that now with wide receiver Marvin Jones Jr. stepping away from the team and being released to tend to family matters.

The Jones release happened a week before the NFL’s trade deadline, and that will lead to questions about potentially replacing Jones. Lions head coach Dan Campbell got one of those in his pre-practice press conference on Thursday.

“Certainly appreciate Marvin and what he brought to the table,” Campbell said respectfully. “Wish him the best of luck and he’s always welcome here.”

Campbell was asked about the state of the wide receiver room now that Jones is gone.

“We’re doing pretty good in the receiver room,” Campbell enthused. “We’ve got the five that were up last week. We’ve got some young guys there on the (practice) squad that have been practicing and working. So we feel pretty good.”

The five who were up last week were Amon-Ra St. Brown, Josh Reynolds, Kalif Raymond, Jameson Williams and Antoine Green. Detroit also has Dylan Drummond, Daurice Founain and Maurice Alexander on the practice squad.

The team did host former Lions slot receiver Tom Kennedy on a visit on Wednesday. To this point, that’s the extent of any potential addition to the Detroit receiver room.

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Marvin Jones Jr. stepping away from the Lions

Jones announced via social media he’s stepping away from football to handle personal family matters.

Veteran wide receiver Marvin Jones Jr. is stepping away from the Detroit Lions and will no longer be part of the team. Jones announced in a heartfelt post on his Instagram page that he’s leaving the Lions.

“I am stepping away from the team to take care of personal family matters,” Jones wrote.

Jones missed the Week 7 game against the Ravens for the personal matter. He’s now opted to take more time off.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CyyzR8UPDOc/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

In wake of Jones’ decision, the Lions are releasing him. Jones caught five passes in his return season in Detroit.

Lions WR Marvin Jones Jr.’s status remains up in the air

Jones did not travel with the team in Week 7 for undisclosed personal reasons and Dan Campbell did little to elaborate on the situation

Lions wide receiver Marvin Jones Jr. was not on the field for Detroit’s Week 7 loss to the Baltimore Ravens. In fact, Jones didn’t even make the trip to Maryland with the team.

The Lions ruled out Jones on Saturday, citing undisclosed personal reasons that were not injury-related. The veteran wideout had been a full participant in practices all week, so the announcement of Jones not playing was something of a surprise.

Head coach Dan Campbell was asked about the nature and potential duration of Jones’ absence.

 “Hard to say on that right now,” Campbell answered. “It’s just all I can tell you it’s a personal issue. Nothing serious like that, is something going – but it’s just, that’s where it is right now.”

Jones has caught five passes on 10 targets, totaling 35 receiving yards in six games. He had played at least 20 offensive snaps in each of the first six weeks.

Rookie Antoine Green and second-year wideout Jameson Williams picked up extra snaps that normally would have gone to Jones. Neither caught a pass in seven combined targets, however.

Lions inactives vs. Ravens includes injuries and a surprise

Lions inactives vs. Ravens includes several injuries and a surprise healthy scratch

The Detroit Lions released their inactive player list for Sunday’s matchup with the Baltimore Ravens. It’s a tale of injuries and one surprise healthy scratch.

The injuries wiped out starting LG Jonah Jackson, starting RB David Montgomery and starting CB Jerry Jacobs, who was a late scratch with a knee injury. Wideout Marvin Jones Jr. was ruled out on Saturday for non-injury reasons and did not make the trip to Baltimore.

That left three healthy scratches for Detroit. Defensive linemen Brodric Martin and Levi Onwuzurike repeat their status from a week ago as sitting out. The third healthy scratch is a surprise: EDGE Charles Harris.

Harris has played 60 percent of the defensive snaps over the first six games and is third on the team with 1.5 sacks. It appears the veteran is the odd man out with Josh Paschal returning to the lineup.

Lions downgrade two players for Week 7 matchup with the Ravens

Lions downgrade WR Marvin Jones and CB Jerry Jacobs for Week 7 matchup with the Ravens

The depth chart took a hit for the Detroit Lions on their travel day. The team announced on Saturday that WR Marvin Jones is out for Sunday’s game in Baltimore and CB Jerry Jacobs is questionable for the game.

Jones did not travel with the team for personal, non-injury reasons. He has played regularly across the formation for the Lions.

Jacobs is now listed with a knee injury. He was not on the practice injury report at any point during the week, including after Friday’s practice.

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Marvin Jones Jr. is the NFL’s oldest WR in 2023

Lions wideout Marvin Jones Jr. is the NFL’s oldest WR to start the 2023 season

For a Detroit Lions team that is looking to continue its roster makeover, youth infusion is a top priority. The front office led by Brad Holmes is drafting and signing tons of talent that are either top-end or being overlooked and lining them up to be coached up by Dan Campbell and his staff.

While finding those inearthed diamonds in the draft or free agent pool is important, so is providing veteran leadership for them to learn from. For the 2023 season, the wide receiver room and coaching staff seem to be leaning on Marvin Jones Jr. who returns to Detroit after leaving in 2021 to sign with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

It is one thing however to be a veteran presence in the locker room, Jones Jr. entered the league in 2012, but it is another to be the oldest receiver on the roster and in the NFL in a literal sense. Jones is the oldest wide receiver in the league at 33.5 years old.

Technically, Matthew Slater is older, but he is a special teams player listed as a receiver. He’s caught one pass in 15 NFL seasons. Calling him a receiver is akin to calling Lions punter Jack Fox a quarterback because he has thrown four passes on fake punts.

Jones Jr. as mentioned above is in Detroit now to coach up and lead by example the young receiving corp for the Lions. Taking him out of the equation, the average age of the Lions receiver room is slightly over 25 years old making Jones Jr. eight years their elder.

Looking back, Marvin Jones Jr. left Detroit for Jacksonville to the tune of a $12.5 million dollar contract. He signed there to be one of the top receiving options for the young franchise piece Trevor Lawrence but he couldn’t find his groove. The groove he found in Detroit allowed him to average 859 yards receiving per game as a Lion, as a Jaguar he averaged 680.

Expectations for his role may be large to the fans and some media but by taking a steo back and looking at it you can see it for what it is. While Jones Jr. may be able to produce in some bulk at times, the Lions and you the reader shouldn’t rely on that. His veteran presence off the field will yield way more than anyhing he does this season on the field.

Detroit Lions training camp battles: Wide Receivers

A look at the Detroit Lions training camp battles at wide receiver from Lions Wire’s Russell Brown

Say what you want but the depth at wide receiver for the Detroit Lions is better than it’s been in a few seasons. While there might be some low expectations for some players in the group, the Lions have built something that they’ve been intending on building since the arrival of this regime.

That something is competition.

By drafting, trading and signing players such as Antoine Green, Denzel Mims and Marvin Jones Jr., the Lions should be able to find some consistent contributions from one, if not all three players this season.

For Antoine Green, he’s a seventh round pick from North Carolina in the 2023 NFL Draft. He’s a deep ball specialist that averaged 19 yards per catch for the Tar Heels while possessing sub-4.5 speed. In 2022, he had 798 receiving yards and 7 touchdowns. It wouldn’t be surprising if he was picked over some veteran receivers to make the 53-man roster.

As for Mims, he’s a former second round pick from the 2020 NFL Draft. While I wasn’t his biggest fan coming out of the draft, he does have sub-4.4 speed and could be a player that just needs a change of scenery. We’ve seen the Lions have success with players changing teams such as John Cominsky and Charles Harris. Mims does only have 42 receptions for 676 yards in his career so my expectations are low. But again, he adds depth and competition for training camp.

When you look at the rest of the roster, players such as Amon-Ra St. Brown, Marvin Jones Jr., and Kalif Raymond should be safe to make the roster. Jameson Williams will make the roster but won’t be available for the first six weeks of the season with his suspension on gambling.

Another veteran that the Lions have is Josh Reynolds. After posting 38 receptions for 479 yards and three touchdowns, he’s coming off his best season with Detroit. He should easily earn a spot on the roster as a 3rd or 4th receiver.

It’s possible that the Lions cut a player such as Denzel Mims for a player such as Maurice Alexander, Trinity Benson or Tom Kennedy. However, I don’t see that being the case. Between those three players, they’ve totaled 17 receptions for 305 receptions and 33 games played.

Regardless of what happens, I’d have low expectations for that final roster spot when it comes to loading the stat sheet on offense. Much of the Lions production at receiver should come from Amon-Ra St. Brown, who posted a career 106 receptions in 2022.

While the Lions did have five receivers last season, I could see them carrying six receivers this season. Here’s how I’d project the Lions wide receiver room for this season:

  • Amon-Ra St. Brown
  • Marvin Jones Jr.
  • Josh Reynolds
  • Kalif Raymond
  • Jameson Williams (Suspended — won’t be on the active 53-man roster)
  • Denzel Mims (Six week trial run to start the season. Could move on after activating Williams)
  • Antoine Green (Practice squad. Could keep him on the PS or activate based on performance of Mims)

The way I see it, the final roster spot at receiver will come down to Denzel Mims and Antoine Green. With how rocky Mims career has been so far, I’d expect the Lions to go in favor of Green.

However, they could put Green on the practice squad to start the season and they could give Mims a six-week trial while Jameson Williams is out of the lineup. If Mims doesn’t produce, they could move on from him while activating Williams and promoting Green to the 53-man roster.

Regardless of how it turns out, it’ll be interesting to see how training camp turns out for the Lions depth chart at wide receiver this summer.

How many Detroit Lions receivers will be relevant in 2023 fantasy football?

How will things shake out after Amon-Ra St. Brown gets his?

Looking at the Detroit Lions’ wide receiver depth chart heading into the 2021 season, you could make a case that they were the worst in the NFL.

No longer.

The emergence of Amon-Ra St. Brown as a high-end possession wideout coupled with the potential of Jameson Williams and veteran savvy of players like Marvin Jones and Josh Reynolds gives the Lions a capable group with some upside. The lone departure of note from last year is WR DJ Chark Jr., who signed with the Carolina Panthers.

With quarterback Jared Goff coming off a redemptive season (4,438 yards, 29 TDs, 7 INTs), the Lions’ passing game is suddenly worth looking at for fantasy football owners.