The wild NFL Trade Deadline was highlighted by the Lions’ trading their stud wideout, Golden Tate to the Eagles. But was this as big of a surprise as it initially felt? If you take a trip down memory Stock Watch lane, you’d remember that Kenny Golladay and Marvin Jones were featured in two-WR sets during the preseason… not Tate. With Tate entering a contract year, this may have been the plan all along. Anyways, the departure of the veteran receiver opens up a boat load of targets that are going to go to both Jones and Golladay — and we’re especially excited for the latter.
The player who benefited the most in this trade is second-year stud, Kenny Golladay. Golladay has proven this season that he’s more than just a preseason all-star and his play made Tate expendable. He’s been very quiet over the past two games, garnering just three combined targets, but was playing like a locked-in WR2 during the team’s first five weeks. Through seven games. Tate was targeted a nice 69 times, while Golladay and Jones combined for 91 targets. The #MACtion product will likely slide to the top of Matt Stafford’s target totem pole.
With Tate no longer in the picture, Jones should return to his 2017 fantasy consistency, where he scored double-digit points in 10 games. He’s coming off a 30 point outburst against the Seahawks, but he’s been very boom-or-bust this season as the second or third option. Overall, expect a monster second half for both Jones, and especially Golladay.
