JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Julius Thomas was a huge signing for the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2015, but a preseason injury that kept him out of the first four games and the emergence of the Jaguars’ wide receivers have almost made him a forgotten man. Maybe that will change in 2016.
Julius Thomas
ESPN Fantasy projection: 61.6 catches, 664.9 yards, 5.7 touchdowns.
Over or under: Take the under on the catches and yards, but the over on the touchdowns. In Thomas’ two big seasons with Peyton Manning in Denver, he caught 65 passes in 2013 and 43 in 2014 (in one fewer game). Even in his best season (65 catches, 788 yards, 12 TDs in 2013) Thomas missed two games and he has yet to play a full season in his career. He missed the first month of the 2015 season and it took him a while to get back into the rhythm of the offense, mainly because of the development of WR Allen Robinson. Robinson will still be QB Blake Bortles’ main target, but the emergence of Marqise Lee and the continued development of WR Allen Hurns will mean fewer targets for Thomas. That doesn’t apply near the goal line, however. The Jaguars will try to exploit mismatches -- as they did in the preseason opener against the New York Jets, when they lined Thomas wide -- and that should allow him to catch six or more TD passes.
ESPN Fantasy projection: 15.6 catches, 191.6 yards, 1.9 touchdowns
Over or under: Lewis had the second-worst statistical season of his 10-year career in 2015 (16 catches, 226 yards, no TDs) even though he played in all 16 games for the first time since 2012 and Thomas was out for the first month of the season. That’s partly because of offensive line issues, which meant Lewis had to spend a lot of time as a blocker. But it also should be noted that Lewis only caught 43.2 percent of his targets, which was a career low. He had only one drop, though, so that low percentage had more to do with Bortles being wild. Lewis wil likely have similar blocking duties in 2016, but these projections still seem a bit low. He won’t surpass them by much, but I do see him topping all three.
Who else could see time: It’s a bit of a jumble behind Thomas and Lewis, with Nic Jacobs, Ben Koyack, Neal Sterling, and Braedon Bowman competing for one, and possibly two, roster spots. Bowman has been sure-handed in camp but Koyack has been working some at fullback. Regardless, none is a viable fantasy option at this point.
