The NFL's 10 Best Deep-Ball Wide Receivers in 2017
2. Marvin Jones, Detroit Lions
Deep Targets: 40 | Target NEP per Target: 1.49 | Success Rate: 60.00%
Matthew Stafford's completion percentage when targeting Marvin Jones deep this year was higher than the overall marks of Andy Dalton, Cam Newton, and Mitchell Trubisky. It was 0.2 percentage points lower than that of Carson Wentz. Ol' Marv had himself a good year.
Jones did this while being a member of the high-volume club, too. He was eighth among wide receivers in deep targets, putting him just behind Thielen and Cooks. Despite being just eighth in targets, Jones still led all wideouts in receiving yards on those throws at 735 with 5 touchdowns. Only one of those passes was intercepted, further bolstering Jones' resume down the field.
It is worth noting, though, that Jones was not the only receiver who fared well in this area with Stafford throwing the ball. In fact, every relevant pass catcher on their team except for one was above the league-average Target NEP per target of 0.42.
| On Deep Balls | Targets | Target NEP | Target NEP per Target |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marvin Jones | 40 | 59.66 | 1.49 |
| Kenny Golladay | 19 | 16.45 | 0.87 |
| T.J. Jones | 15 | 16.84 | 1.12 |
| Golden Tate | 9 | 2.38 | 0.26 |
| Eric Ebron | 8 | 9.48 | 1.19 |
These guys helped Stafford finish second in Passing NEP per attempt on deep throws among those with at least 50 deep passes this year. So while Jones is the one getting dap here (and he was the most efficient on the team), we have to be sure to give a good chunk of the credit to Stafford, as well.
The Lions are a team with the personnel in place to push the ball downfield more often. They didn't do so in 2017 (Stafford was 20th in deep rate), but they showed upside in this department, similar to what both the Vikings and Chiefs showed in 2016. We may want to factor this into our assessment of Stafford for fantasy heading into 2018 as an increased emphasis on the deep ball would provide a boost to his upside.
