Getty Detroit Lions WR Bruce Ellington
The Detroit Lions have been without wide receiver Marvin Jones for the past two games due to a knee injury. Unfortunately, it seems his knee hasn’t improved to the point where the team expects him back anytime soon, as the call was made for him to be placed on the shelf for the rest of the season.
As NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero revealed, Lions coach Matt Patricia announced on Monday that Jones will head to injured reserve.
#Lions coach Matt Patricia announced WR Marvin Jones is going on injured reserve.
Following the news, it leads to some major fantasy football implications. While it’s been tough to find wideouts on the waiver wire as of late (depending on the week), you may be able to find a replacement who’s already on the Detroit roster.
Bruce Ellington a Top Fantasy Football Replacement
While Jones had tallied 508 yards and five touchdowns this season, we’ve already started to see his replacement emerge. It was expected that Jones would become a focal point of the Lions passing game, along with Kenny Golladay, but it’ll now be Bruce Ellington who should hold down that role.
Ellington was acquired by the Lions just two games ago, and he’s hit the ground running with his new team. Although the 27-year-old was fairly quiet to start the season with the Houston Texans, he’s received 16 targets over his first two games in Detroit. This has led to Ellington pulling down six passes in each game for 80 yards.
While Ellington’s yardage hasn’t been overly-incredible, he’s still a strong addition in point-per-reception fantasy leagues. It’s also worth noting that he actually played fewer snaps than TJ Jones in Week 11, per Football Outsiders, playing 33 to his teammate’s 45 (Week 12 snap counts aren’t out yet).
Although Jones has seen the higher number of snaps, it certainly doesn’t make him the more appealing fantasy pick up. Jones, who’s currently in his fourth NFL season, has received just one target in each of the past two games and has only seen more than two targets one time, which came back in Week 1. He’s caught eight passes for 78 yards total on the season.
Ellington is the player you’ll want to target as an addition for your fantasy team moving forward, specifically in PPR leagues. He makes sense in all leagues where you need a wide receiver, though, as six catches likely won’t result in just 28 yards all that often, as it did in Week 12.
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