Jacksonville Jaguars WR Zay Jones: Unlikely Fantasy Football League Winner

Depending on what you look for in football or your rooting interests, Week 15 had some of the best the sport has to offer. Just a few hours after the final penalty kick in extra time of the 2022 World Cup, the NFL tried its own hand at overtime multiple times and delivered some of the wildest comebacks in its history. Down at TIAA Bank Stadium in Florida, the Jacksonville Jaguars made their own bid at the improbable on the back of one Zay Jones, who cashed in three touchdowns in Sunday's 40-34 win over the Dallas Cowboys, his fourth touchdown in the last two games, and the fourth win for the team over the last six games.

From Afterthought to Fantasy Relevant

With his incredible 31.9 half-PPR performance in Week 15, wide receiver Zay Jones has now surpassed his previous career-high in fantasy points, with a mark of 135.2 (WR36) in 2018 with the Buffalo Bills. In the three subsequent years, Jones was an afterthought, leaving Buffalo to head to the west coast, where he would eventually put together a few positive performances toward the end of the 2021 season with the Raiders as the team was struggling to get more than one talented wide receiver on the field at the same time.

While the Raiders shifted their WR focus to free agent Davante Adams, the Jaguars would sign and pair Jones with Christian Kirk to form a one-two punch in a move(s) that received criticism that ranged from confusion to outright mockery. Yesterday felt like a cherry on top of the haters as Jones scored three times, including a 59-yard reception, while Kirk added 92 yards of his own, giving the combo 201 yards on the day.

Even with the receiving stats from the Jaguar's top-two players, the team also added eight carries of 10+ yards, as the offense as a whole continues to click down the final stretch of the season.

Next for the team and WR Zay Jones of the Jacksonville Jaguars

With this latest win, the Jags now control their own destiny in the playoff picture, and if they win these final three games, they have a great opportunity to squeeze in there after they had been written off by Halloween. The Zay Jones stats over these crucial last six games — 40 receptions on 56 targets for 455 receiving yards — tell the story of someone who has been critical to the team's success, and it would be unlikely that they turn away from that now, or possibly even next year.

Jones has two years left on his three-year, $24 million contract, and his consistency over the second half of this year could be a big factor in what the Jaguars do in the NFL Draft next season. He is locked in, Christian Kirk is locked in, Calvin Ridley will be with the team after serving his 2021 suspension, Travis Etienne is still on his rookie deal, and Evan Engram is purportedly open to re-signing with the team after the one-year "prove it" deal he is on.

Though the former East Carolina Pirate may not be putting up quite this many WR1-type games in 2023 and beyond, he is proving that he can be an integral piece of a quickly ascending offense in the near and distant future.