Which Jacksonville WR is the player to own?

The Jacksonville Jaguars tanked in the right way in 2020, and by doing so they were able to draft Trevor Lawrence with the first pick in the NFL draft. One of the greatest college prospects to come out since Andrew Luck, Lawrence should be able to give the Jaguars an immediate boost from what they had in prior seasons.

With Lawrence under center, we assume it will benefit the receiving game in a big way. The Jags have been ‘one-and-done’ with WRs in the past few years. Whether it was the late-season breakout of Keelan Cole in 2017, or the next big thing in Dede Westbrook, the Jags just have not been able to find the answer. Sure, I put a lot of that on the coaching and the lack of consistent quarterback play, but now the Jags have 3 legit WRs in their offense. The question we must ask ourselves is… which WR is the one to own in 2021?

DJ Chark and Laviska Shenault have been the answers to that question for the last two seasons. Chark had a massive sophomore season in 2018 and finished as a strong WR2 in fantasy, but in 2020 he fell off, and was not even startable in many given weeks. Shenault showed promise as a rookie last year, but he battled injuries and suffered in part due to the poor quarterback carousel they had going. Both should be able to bounce back and improve with Lawrence under center, but the other WR to know about is Marvin Jones.

Jones was brought in as a free agent this offseason and signed a two-year deal with the Jags. Jones was able to put together a strong season with the Lions & Stafford, while finishing as the WR17 in Half-PPR. He was targeted a career high 115 times, and the best thing about Jones is that he is always on the field. He never took fewer than 83% of the offensive snaps in any given week for the Lions. I know these stats do not mean much now since it was for a different team last season, but I feel this was a large reason why the Jags went out and got this consistent WR.

It should come as no surprise to you guys now, but Marvin Jones is the Jaguars WR I want to own in 2021. The biggest reason for this is because it is a brand-new coaching staff, and specifically a new head coach with Urban Meyer. This new regime has zero ties to Chark or Shenault. One of the first moves this new staff made was signing Marvin Jones to a 2-Year, $14.5 Million contract. Not a bad deal for a 31-year-old player who is not considered a top tier player at his position. This signing shows the coaching staff and Meyer wanted a veteran presence who will be able to help Trevor Lawrence right away. And let us not forget that Marvin Jones played with OC Darrell Bevell in Detroit. This is similar to what I said about Robby Anderson going to the Panthers last season with a new coaching staff.

Now to be clear, this is no knock on Chark or Shenault, because I do think all three WRs are great and this offense will be a whole lot better with all three of them starting the season healthy. I just believe that a veteran presence in Jones and what he has shown his entire career is why the Jags will use him the most in the passing game. I said no knocks, but one small one to Chark is that Urban Meyer called him “a big man playing small ball”, which could be more of something to push Chark this offseason, which I really hope he does. With Shenault, he lines up everywhere, so he is a guy who will always be on the field, but with them drafting Travis Etienne, Meyer said he will be used more as a pass catcher in 2021. Believe it if you want, but if that is the case, then that means he will line up in the slot a lot and take away the effective rushing game Shenault showed last season.

Again, I am not trying to say one or two of these guys will be bad. And realistically we could see these WRs finish similar to how the Steelers or Panthers WRs finished last season. But I am willing to bet that Marvin Jones will be the most productive WR for the Jags in 2021. Even if all three can put up WR3 numbers, Jones is the one I want. Especially when you start to consider their ADP’s, since you could get Jones closer to the end of drafts, whereas you will need to invest a higher pick on both Chark and Shenault.

Do not sleep on Jones!