Getty Marvin Jones hammers Jaylon Johnson.
Marvin Jones had one of the biggest hits of Week 1 when he lowered the boom on Chicago Bears defensive back Jaylon Johnson, and he has received some love and recognition for that big hit.
During the Detroit Lions‘ 27-23 loss to the Bears, Jones didn’t have the biggest impact as a whole statistically with only 55 yards on the day and no scores. The one play he made, though, was felt on highlight reels long after the game was done. On a pass, Jones took off and promptly laid out Johnson with a massive hit, then continued down the field.
The play was so good, it was Good Morning Football’s “Angry Run” of the week, and host Kyle Brandt could barely contain his excitement about the play.
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Brandt was enthusiastic in his commentary:
“Are you kidding me Marvin Jones? Oh my gosh, as we know, Marvin Jones’ side business off the field, he’s in the cake business. This was bundt force trauma on the rookie Jaylen Johnson. Marvin Jones, we’ve been watching you for years dude. Great receiver, great hands, cool guy. I didn’t know you had that in you!”
Jones was given the title of the Angry Scepter winner for the first week, meaning he gets a t-shirt and the honor of being the angriest runner from Week 1 of the 2020 season.
The contact was indeed very angry, and Jones and the Lions are likely still smarting too after the close loss. We’ll see if Jones can keep handing out the punishment in the weeks ahead.
Marvin Jones Called Top NFL Wideout
Recently, Nick Shook took a closer look at NFL.com with the help of some advanced stats from Next Gen Stats in order to determine the top wide receivers in football. Detroit’s Marvin Jones placed within the top 5, claiming the No. 4 spot on Shook’s list. That placed him ahead of names like Calvin Ridley and Amari Cooper.
As it relates to why, Shook admitted in the writeup that it has everything to do with not only his skill, but his ability to grow within an offense that’s set to take off this season.
“Jones, who missed three games himself in 2019, has an interesting week-by-week stat line, with the most peculiar game coming in Week 12 against Washington, with Jeff Driskel under center. Jones was targeted 11 times and caught just five of those passes; those numbers indicate either a receiver having a bad outing or a quarterback giving a receiver few chances to make a play. Jones’ expected catch rate that date was 44.1 percent and he caught 45.5 percent of his targets, meaning he performed slightly better than expectation. He was afforded just 1.3 yards of separation on average when targeted in that game and battled through a tight window on 54.5 percent of targets. This isn’t the receiver’s fault.
Jones overcame plenty — including the second-highest tight-window percentage (29.7) of any of these pass-catchers — to post our fourth and final double-digit positive catch-rate difference of 2019 (among receivers). His yardage total doesn’t say it, but he made plenty of plays amid disadvantageous circumstances.”
Jones had multiple big games this season including a day in October where he exploded for 4 touchdowns in a game against Minnesota. Though his season was cut short by injury, Jones put up numbers and managed to dominate no matter who was the quarterback. That’s significant and leads to the thought that Jones might be heading for a career year in 2020 with a healthy quarterback.
Marvin Jones Dominant for Lions in 2019
Seeing Jones exit with injury late in the 2019 season was tough. Jones was fantastic this past season for the Lions, and opposite Kenny Golladay, has been one of the top wideouts in the entire game. Last season, he’s put up 779 yards and 9 touchdowns, which are solid numbers for Detroit. More than that, he has given the Lions a formidable 1-2 punch with Golladay and has been very dependable this season.
Jones had to prove he could come back off last season’s knee injury which cost him the end of the 2018 season, and he was able to do that with a massive season thus far in 2019. It’s safe to say Jones will continue to put in the good work for the Lions and as a result, should be earning himself love.
After Week 1, it looks as if Jones is still in great shape to be handing out the punishment on the field.
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