Wide Receiver Zay Jones has returned to the Arizona Cardinals after serving a 5 game suspension.
Zay Jones has returned from a five game suspension after violating the NFL’s personal conduct stemming from his domestic violence arrest. He signed a one-year deal with the Cardinals after playing for the Jaguars. Jones posted career highs with the Jaguars in 2022 with 82 catches 823 receiving yards and 5 touchdowns. Jones was suspended before the 2024 season so he has not played yet with the Cardinals.
Jones is your regular journeyman reciever. He was working as the Cardinals fourth reciever behind Marvin Harrison Jr, Michael Wilson, and Greg Dortch in training camp. He is not rosterable in any format unless one of the three ahead of him suffers an injury.
– Jesse Baldwin, @J_Baldwin51
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Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Zay Jones has been suspended for the first 5 games of the season.
Wide reciever Zay Jones is suspended for the first 5 games of the NFL season for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy. Jones was drafted in the 2nd round by the Buffalo Bills in 2017 out of East Carolina. He has since bounced around the league playing for the Raiders, Jaguars and now the Arizona Cardinals. His best season came in 2022 with the Jaguars with 82 catches, 823 receiving yards and 5 touchdowns. His 2023 season with the Jaguars was marred by injuries. After getting released by the Jaguars he signed a one-year contract with the Cardinals.
This suspension really hurts Jones chances of making an impact on the team, as the Cardinals have the top rookie wide receiver drafted in Marvin Harrison Jr., along with Michael Wilson and Greg Dortch. Harrison Jr. is the top target in this offense regardless of the Jones suspension, but it does give Michael Wilson and Greg Dortch more opportunities on the field. Dortch has already shown to have a good connection with quarterback Kyler Murray. Michael Wilson had a promising rookie season, despite missing four weeks with a shoulder injury. With another year under his belt and health on his side, Wilson is a dark horse at the wide receiver position in all fantasy leagues. Kyler Murray is another year removed from his ACL injury, setting up this Cardinals offense to be very explosive.
The Arizona Cardinals have signed Zay Jones to a one year deal worth up to $4.25 million.
Jones struggled to stay on the field with the Jaguars in 2023 due to a knee injury, only playing 9 games. He also encountered legal charges last year that ultimately ended up getting dropped, but may have impacted the Jaguars decision to move on from him earlier this offseason. Jones will look for a fresh start in Arizona, and should have the opportunity to be a key contributor in their receiving room.
The Cardinals desperately needed to add Wide Receiver depth this offseason after the departure of Hollywood Brown and Rondale Moore. Drafting Marvin Harrison Jr. with the 4th pick was a great start, and now the addition of Zay Jones should have Cardinals fans and Kyler Murray fantasy mangers extremely optimistic for offensive fireworks in the desert this season.
Jones will be competing with 2nd year receiver Michael Wilson for Wide Receiver 2 duties in the Cardinals offense. Wilson primarily projects as a perimeter receiver, and we can expect Jones, Harrison Jr., and Greg Dortch to all take snaps from the slot in 2024. Jones has versatility and athleticism that make him an intriguing fantasy option at the later round of best ball and redraft leagues if he can stay healthy.
Zay Jones is still dealing with a knee injury he suffered in week 2 and will miss the Jacksonville’s Sunday morning game in London against the Falcons.
The Jaguars will be without Jones for the second straight week after a somewhat underwhelming start to the season for the team. Jacksonville was able to keep all their weapons from last year, while adding Calvin Ridley and Tank Bigsby, leading most to expect this offense to take a big step forward this season. While it’s clear there is still room for this offense to improve, their 9th overall rank in passing yards per game indicates that we should be paying careful attention to their pass catchers from a fantasy football perspective.
With Jones set to miss this week, and Ridley seemingly playing a little banged up, you can expect Christian Kirk to be a go-to target for Trevor Lawrence against a tough Falcons Defense that is 4th in total passing yards allowed this year. While both Ridley and Kirk get a slight bump to their value this week with Jones ruled out, it should be expected for Jamal Agnew to draw targets as the teams 3rd receiver if he is cleared to play tomorrow (quad.) Agnew quietly drew 5 targets last week and it’s clear Lawrence isn’t afraid to get him involved.
Fantasy Managers should do what they can to hold onto Zay Jones, as he’s proven to be a go-to target for Trevor Lawrence in the redzone so far this season. The Jaguars sound optimistic that he will be able to play against the Bills next week while they remain in London for the second straight game. Outside of Ridley and Kirk, there isn’t another Jags receiver that needs to be in your lineups this weekend.
