Zay Jones Fantasy News and Statistics

Buffalo Bills wide receiver Zay Jones made the transition from 5A high school football in Texas to Conference USA action with ease.

Jones began his college football career with the East Carolina Pirates in their final season as a Conference USA team prior to switching to the American Athletic Conference. From the start, it was a great fit for both sides. As his freshman season progressed, Jones’ role only expanded. He recorded eight catches for 104 yards in his team’s win over Tulsa in early November, and just a few weeks later he recorded over 120 receiving yards in his team’s loss to Marshall. On the year, Jones finished with 604 yards, which was second on the team to Justin Hardy, who now plays for the Atlanta Falcons.

His sophomore year, Jones was once again stuck behind Hardy on the team’s depth chart, but he did end up having a bigger role. By the end of the year, he had recorded 81 catches for 830 yards and five touchdown grabs. He even had three games in which he recorded over 100 receiving yards. After that 2014 season, Hardy was picked up in the NFL Draft, which essentially handed the No. 1 wide receiver job off to Jones.

With the new opportunity at hand, Jones took full advantage of the situation and once again grew and developed as a football player his junior year. The results were even better this time around as he recorded 98 catches for 1,099 yards. Fast forward one year, however, and his numbers were off the charts.

In 2016, the ECU Pirates had very little talent on their roster as they finished the season with a 3-9 mark. As a result, they relied heavily upon Jones in an attempt to keep their otherwise miserable team afloat. In all but two games, Jones had at least 10 receptions He even had 22 catches for 190 yards in a tight loss to South Carolina in September of his senior year. His top performance, however, came against Navy when he caught 12 balls for 212 yards and a pair of touchdowns. On the year, he amassed 1,746 yards and eight scores on 158 catches. He set the Division I record for most receptions in a season and was one of three finalists for the Biletnikoff Award.

Since Jones essentially carried ECU’s team his senior year, the Buffalo Bills viewed him highly and selected him in the second round of the 2017 NFL Draft. It helped his stock that he had 68 receiving yards on six catches in the Senior Bowl, as he showed his ability to excel against tough competition.

Jones is in a good spot to be a breakout rookie for the Bills this season. Sammy Watkins is no longer with the team, and while they did pick up Jordan Matthews, there is little competition for the No. 2 receiving job on the team. It is also realistic to expect a sound year from him because the Bills probably won’t be a run-laden team with former Denver Broncos offensive coordinator Rick Dennison calling plays for the team in 2017. If Matthews gets hurt at some point, then Jones could be a workhorse yet again like he was in college.