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Jones and Benjamin

Receivers taking step up in passing offenses

The Detroit Lions lost Calvin Johnson to retirement, but they added probably the marquee free agent receiver on the first day of free agency. They signed Marvin Jones away from the Bengals yesterday. Jones isn't Megatron, but it's a good signing, and it seems to be a good landing spot for him.

Back in 2009, when Matthew Stafford first took over as Detroit's starting quarterback, neither the Bengals nor the Lions had quality passing offenses; both were ranked 20th or worse in passing that year. Since that time, the Lions have ranked in the top 12 in passing in every season, while Cincinnati has ranked that high just once.

Jones caught 65 passes for 815 yards and 4 TDs last season. He's definitely going to be working in a more productive passing offense in 2016. In the table below, the first set of numbers shows Cincinnati's passing numbers, the second set Detroit's.

PASSING OFFENSE, 2009-2015
YearCinYdCinTDCinRkDeYdDeTDDeRk
20091812126th1981621st
20102352613th2382612th
20112092120th301414th
20122242817th308222nd
2013259338th280293rd
20142142021st2522212th
20152453115th263339th

Similarly, Travis Benjamin left the Browns for the Chargers on the first day of free agency. He's not stepping into a guaranteed No. 2 role, but he's being paid very well, so it's very possible he'll be their No. 2. Like Jones, he's moving on up in going from Cleveland's passing offense to San Diego's.

In that same time period, San Diego has finished outside the top 10 in passing offense just once. Cleveland, in stark contrast, has finished 19th or worse in all but one of those seasons. In the table below, the first set of numbers shows Cleveland's passing numbers, the second set San Diego's.

PASSING OFFENSE, 2009-2015
YearCleYdCleTDCleRkSDYdSDTDSDRk
20091301132nd271295th
20101871329th282302nd
20111931624th277276th
20122151619th2062624th
20132532611th271324th
20142171220th2563110th
20152362021st287304th

Setting aside the obvious increase in pay scales, looks like good moves by Marvin Jones and Travis Benjamin.

--Andy Richardson

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