Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
The Cincinnati Bengals clearly have one of the best wide receivers in the league in A.J. Green, but they’ve struggled to find someone opposite him to take defensive attention away and produce consistently. That has improved some this season, with second-year receivers Mohamed Sanu and Marvin Jones each having 46 receptions with one game to go. Jones has been the more productive player though, averaging 14.2 yards per catch with nine touchdowns to just two touchdowns and less than 10 yards per catch (9.6) for Sanu.
But does that make Jones the better option for fantasy football owners going forward?
Jones has had an up-and-down season in 2013, with a breakout game in Week 8 against the New York Jets (eight receptions for 122 yards and four touchdowns) coming in the midst of a four-game stretch where he had 19 receptions for 316 yards and six touchdowns. He then had just four catches for 23 yards over the following three games, but after a six-catch, 85-yard effort against the Minnesota Vikings in Week 16 he has 14 receptions for 193 yards and two touchdowns over the last three games, with an increase in playing time (106 of 154 snaps; 68.8 percent) over the last two games.
The prospect of Bengals’ offensive coordinator Jay Gruden leaving for a head coaching job next year may have an effect on the team’s entire offense, but a new coordinator will surely attempt to focus on the talent that will already be in place around quarterback Andy Dalton. Jones will never be the top option in Cincinnati’s passing game while Green is around, but he should consistently see more playing time and targets than Sanu in 2014 and that alone makes him an intriguing fantasy option in deeper leagues.
Brad Berreman is a contributing writer at Rant Sports.com. Follow him on Twitter @bradberreman24.
