TJ Jones

[WOATjohn]

Is TJ Jones a must add now? He should be the permanent slot receiver now.
Plus, he looked pretty solid last year when his number was called.

[lummy78]

Not 100% sure on that one. I'm a Lions fan (unfortunately). The Lions are high on Brandon Powell. He's an undrafted rookie from Florida. I think Powell & TJ Jones split up Golden Tate's playing time.

[ninotoreS]

I've liked TJ for years. Good work ethic, fundamentally sound, solid route-craft. He's not explosive, but he's smooth.

I think he should be rostered for now in 12-team leagues, but don't get your hopes up. Patricia's Lions aren't asking Stafford's arm to win the game for them every week. I'm guessing TJ Jones will be a fantasy WR4.

[ninotoreS]

Not 100% sure on that one. I'm a Lions fan (unfortunately). The Lions are high on Brandon Powell. He's an undrafted rookie from Florida. I think Powell & TJ Jones split up Golden Tate's playing time.

Based on slot routes run snap data, if the Lions are gonna committee the slot work, it'll be TJ and Theo.

[joeya2001]

Not 100% sure on that one. I'm a Lions fan (unfortunately). The Lions are high on Brandon Powell. He's an undrafted rookie from Florida. I think Powell & TJ Jones split up Golden Tate's playing time.

Tell me more about Powell

[ninotoreS]

You didn't ask me, but: he's almost as small as Andrew Hawkins minus the speed, and has T-Rex arms. He runs hard for his size with quick feet, and has some gadget appeal. The Lions do seem to see something in him, but it appears developmental in nature. I dunno that he has enough savvy with zone coverage yet to be a significant contributor in the slot this year. I know TJ and Riddick do, so I have to think they'll be preferred there for now, and the snap data to this point supports that.

[Space Cowboy]

Situational deep threat and not a whole lot else.

[slaughterrt]

T-Rex arms. Haha. 🦖

[princey98]

Lions fan. Never been impressed with TJ. I think Marvin Jones and Kenny G outside, Riddick in the slot and KJ in the backfield is our best bet on passing downs.

[lummy78]

Not 100% sure on that one. I'm a Lions fan (unfortunately). The Lions are high on Brandon Powell. He's an undrafted rookie from Florida. I think Powell & TJ Jones split up Golden Tate's playing time.

Based on slot routes run snap data, if the Lions are gonna committee the slot work, it'll be TJ and Theo.

TJ Jones was a healthy scratch last week and Powell dressed. He was the punt returner and saw a few snaps on offense. Most of the Detroit beat writers believe Powell & Theo will get Tate's snaps. Theo is out right now with a knee injury. Powell is going to get the first shot.

The Lions paid a lot of rookie FA money for Powell when WR was not even close to being a need. They really like this kid. He's a Tyreek Hill/Tarik Cohen type player. I'm not saying he's that good. But, he's that type of player.

[Bot101]

https://www.playerprofiler.com/nfl/brandon-powell/

Maybe its just me, but I like my small athletes to be, you know, athletic.

[ninotoreS]

Situational deep threat and not a whole lot else.

Neither TJ Jones nor Powell is a 'deep threat', situational or otherwise.

https://www.playerprofiler.com/nfl/brandon-powell/

Maybe its just me, but I like my small athletes to be, you know, athletic.

To be fair, Powell is more athletic in pads than that.

[ninotoreS]

TJ Jones was a healthy scratch last week and Powell dressed. He was the punt returner and saw a few snaps on offense.

You countered your own point. Jones was inactive because he doesn't play special-teams; Powell was active because he did.

That is the only game Powell has been active this year, and he got one snap with the offense.

Jones has been active six game this year. He's only registered three catches on six targets, and that's due to a combination of the greater emphasis on the run in Detroit together with Golladay's ascendance. Despite all the 3-wide sets Detroit runs, 4-wide sets this year have been rare. And those six targets are 600% more than Powell has gotten through seven weeks.

The Lions paid a lot of rookie FA money for Powell when WR was not even close to being a need.

They gave him the most guaranteed money of their rookie undrafted players... $55,000, iirc.

They gave TJ Jones $1,900,000 this offseason.

He's a Tyreek Hill/Tarik Cohen type player. I'm not saying he's that good. But, he's that type of player.

He's not. Those players are defined by their game-breaking speed. It's everything to them. Powell isn't as slow in pads as his Pro Day performance indicates, but he's nonetheless an order of magnitude inferior to Hill and Cohen's game-changing athleticism.

As I said in my last comment, Powell is a solid gadget type. He brings added value because he can return punts and maybe kicks, but mostly he's got gadget value because he's built -- and runs -- like a scatback. That's where the Tate comparison comes from.

But you gotta understand Tate was always a much more advanced, legitimate wide-receiver coming out of Notre Dame. Powell is miles behind where Tate was coming into the league, no matter what fairy tale he tells a reporter because he likes Powell and wanted to give the rookie confidence.

Powell's tiny catch-radius and iffy ball-skills are why he's unlikely to be any kind of consistent target as a gadget on an offense that already has two better pass-catching RBs, and that together with Powell's limited route-tree is why his average depth of target in preseason was so small.

TJ Jones is much more versatile than Powell as a true WR. He's best in the slot, but he's fast enough and tall enough to take some snaps on the perimeter, and he's a proven intermediate-level receiver. Stafford already trusts him, too. Iirc, Powell caught zero passes from Stafford in preseason.

[jeffster]

The Lions offense was more than a little unusual in supporting three startable WRs. Projecting that to continue happening despite the rise of KJ and the trading of Tate, not to mention years of the team falling short of expectations while running their offense this way, seems a bit foolhardy.

I mean, if he's free and you've got bench space, sure, grab him off waivers. But I wouldn't invest anything of value into him.

[ninotoreS]

I wouldn't even say they've really supported three this year. Marvin Jones hasn't helped his fantasy owners four of seven weeks. (that should change now, ofc)

I mentioned in the Golden Tate thread that the tertiary Lions winner of this trade could actually be Kerryon Johnson. He's been the only other guy in the offense getting run-after-catch yardage like Golden, and it just so happens he mini-showcased that last Sunday. He's already been getting random snaps split out wide. With Golden traded, I think it's plausible Patriots-esque Kevin Faulk / Shane Vereen / Dion Lewis pass-game usage is in the forecast for KJ, especially with Riddick still out.