Fantasy Football Spotlight - Jacksonville WR - Matt Jones
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By Jason Clarke http://huddlegeeks.com
When you take a look at Matt Jones numbers from his rookie season, nothing really sticks out to say, "I gotta have this guy on my fantasy football team in 2006!" But when you delve into them a little closer and consider the situation he will be presented in Jacksonville this year, the second year receiver seems to have a lot of upside for this upcoming season.
Let's take a quick peek at Jones' number from 2005. Not counting the playoffs, Jones caught 36 balls for 432 yards and 5 TDs. Granted, they are not Randy Moss type numbers for his rookie season, but considering it was Jones first year playing WR at ANY level, they are a little more impressive.
To those that are not that familiar with Matt Jones, the Jags WR played QB on a collegiate level at Arkansas and converted to wide receiver during the Senior Bowl weekend for NFL prospects. Jones possessed such a great combination of size (6-6, 240) and speed (4.3 40-yard dash) that NFL talent evaluators determined that he would have significantly more value at the pro level if he made a position switch from quarterback to receiver. When looking back at Jones' numbers from 2005 one must take into account the playing status of Jaguars starting QB Byron Leftwitch. Leftwitch started the first 11 games of the NFL season before suffering a leg injury that kept him out of the teams last six games. During games in which Leftwitch started, Jones averaged around 2.5 catches, 30 yards and caught 4 out of his 5 TDs for the season. Again, not huge numbers, but you can sense that Jones was starting to get on a roll scoring 4 TDs in weeks 6-11 and Leftwitch looking his way more and more, especially in the red zone, where Jones 6-6 frame make him an inviting target.
After Leftwitch went down though, so did Jones' numbers. David Garrard took over as the Jags starting QB and did not look Jones way very often, as Jones only caught 9 balls in the last six game of the regular season. Garrard chose to look more the way of veteran WR Jimmy Smith, than of the rookie Jones.
As we enter the 2006 season, Jimmy Smith has announced his retirement and Jones seems like the most likely candidate to step into the veterans shoes as the No. 1 option in the Jags passing game. Teammates have commented how much better Jones has looked in offseason workouts and Jones himself has said that he feels much more comfortable at the WR position this season, as opposed to 2005 where he just let his natural ability take over.
We see Jones putting up some impressive numbers, especially in the TD category, in 2006, whether or not Leftwitch is healthy the entire season. Since Smith has retired, Jones should be able to establish him as the No. 1 receiver on the Jags offense and be a legitimate threat in the red zone. He should be a quality No. 2 receiver on your fantasy team in 2006 and quite possibly a stud in years to come.
View More Fantasy Spotlights at Huddlegeeks.com http://huddlegeeks.com
Source
- huddlegeeks.com
- nfl.com
Date
Wed 07/12/06, 4:12 pm EST
