On Tuesday during the owner meetings, head coach Dan Campbell met with the media. During his press conference, he talked about a lot of things, from being fired up about the players that are developing to the possibility of signing Calais Campbell.
One question that stood out was if the team had a void after losing DJ Chark to the Carolina Panthers. Campbell responded by saying that “I think it could be nice to find another guy that can help us out there.” Nobody really knew if Campbell meant the draft or if they’d get cute and try to sign someone such as Odell Beckham Jr.
OBJ is an absolute long shot; he doesn’t fit the culture being built. To help with that continuous build, the team pivoted away from other free agents and went with a familiar face. That player was Marvin Jones Jr., who was a free agent after two seasons with the Jacksonville Jaguars. The 33-year-old veteran returns to Detroit. While it’ll be fun to search for his highlights from his five seasons with the Lions, let’s jump into his tape from last season to see what he’s bringing to the table!
Intermediate Areas and Stick Routes
When Marvin Jones was in Detroit, he was always able to win vertically down the field. During his time with the Lions, he averaged 14.9 yards per reception. During his two seasons with the Jaguars, he only averaged 12.9 per reception. Obviously, the number of games played changes the outcome of these averages but the production deep down the field has dipped a little bit for Jones.
However, Jones is still effective in the intermediate areas of the field. During the 2022 season, Jones had 37 total targets and 23 receptions in the middle of the field (per PFF). This resulted in 345 yards and 3 touchdowns. Keep in mind, Jones only had 46 receptions for 529 yards and 3 touchdowns last season.
On the play above, the Jaguars motion into a trips left formation. You’ll see Jones (WR 11) playing as the ‘X’ receiver on the bottom of the screen. Once the ball is snapped, he pushes vertically and breaks toward the middle of the field at about 7 or 8 yards. While the ball is in the air, he jumps slightly off the ground and traps the ball into his armpit and advances upfield for the first down.
Whip Route
Similar to his ability in the intermediate areas of the field, there’s still plenty to like about Jones in the short areas. In 2022, he had 22 receptions (on 27 targets) for 158 yards. Much of this success is due to designed screens, shallow crossers or whip routes.
Watching the play above, you’ll see the Jaguars in a trips bunch formation at the top of the screen. Aligned as the ‘Z’ receiver, you’ll see Jones (WR 11) with an outside release while redirecting to the middle of the field before breaking back towards the sideline with the whip route.
Providing plenty of snap and shiftiness, Jones creates enough space to get the ball thrown his way. You’d have to think quarterback Jared Goff would love to have another player that compliments Amon-Ra St. Brown in the short areas of the field.
Final Thoughts
In one way, you could say that Marvin Jones was the backup plan to DJ Chark. But you could also say that was the case for David Montgomery after Jamaal Williams moved on from Detroit. No matter what happens with the loss of key contributors to the roster, the Lions seem to have a great backup option. While these moves could backfire, they seemingly look like great moves right now.
Marvin Jones with the one-handed catch. Works back to the QB but then goes up and snags it. Happy he's back. #OnePride https://t.co/9blTR3Ip5h pic.twitter.com/PAB3hoGQch
— Russell Brown (@RussNFLDraft) March 30, 2023
By signing a one-year deal worth $3 million dollars, Marvin Jones returns to Detroit. Back to a place he called home for five seasons in the NFL and where he had the most success of his career. You could say that his production will regress but there’s still plenty to like with this signing.
Jones will complement Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams very well. There will be opportunities for offensive coordinator Ben Johnson to get creative. The reason is that he gets a veteran receiver who can attack all three levels of the field while being an experienced route runner. I’d expect plenty of smash concepts, spot routes out of trips formations and hitch-seam concepts with Jones on the depth chart.
While Jones isn’t getting any younger and it looks like he has lost a step, there’s still much to like after watching his tape. He plays tough and has no issues running routes over the middle of the field. It’s unfortunate that he’s not the same jump-ball type of player that he used to be but he should be effective. We’ll see how it all unfolds, but it looks like the receiver position got a little bit better today.
