Marc Lebryk USA TODAY Sports
We are at the point in the fantasy football season where most of the meat on the free agent bone has been picked clean. If you’re one of the owners who was duped into drafting a secretly-injured Roddy White or reached for an injury-prone talent like Andre Johnson, then you have probably spent most of this season looking for desperation additions off the waiver wire.
In fantasy football, hope springs eternal for finding that diamond in the rough. This week, the dark Gods of fantasy football offer yet another morsel of temptation in Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Marvin Jones.
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The stat line he flashed on Sunday put him on a lot of people’s radar. Catching eight balls for 122 yards and a staggering four touchdowns is enough to send any owner racing to put in a claim for him. The question remains: is he worth owning?
Well at this point in the season, he absolutely is worth owning. With the talent pool picked over as much as it has, any player who is capable of putting up stats better than a potato is worth owning. If you get him with your first waiver selection, are you really getting a player who’s capable of putting that kind of nosebleed stat line up every week?
Probably not. Jones’ recent success has just as much to do with the Bengals’ other offensive weapons drawing coverage than it does his ability to be the second coming of Randy Moss. Offensive coordinator Jay Gruden is a savvy coach who knows how to exploit matchups and surprise opposing defenses.
More than likely, his nosebleed success last week and his modest success the two weeks before is a product of it being his turn to feast on the opportunity created by A.J. Green drawing double and sometimes triple-coverage.
Jones is worth owning especially if you’re desperate, but you should temper your expectations.
Eric Beuning is a Fantasy Football writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @ericbeuning or add him to your network on Google.
