Notes: Marvin Jones Jr. named Lions’ unsung hero of 2020

Despite making a significant impact, Detroit Lions receiver Marvin Jones Jr. largely flew under the radar this season, according one one NFL writer.

Around the NFL writer Nick Shook dug into Next Gen Stats and identified one player on each team that could be considered an unsung hero. These players showed up consistently, all while getting less attention than their more popular teammates do.

Shook argued for the Lions that player is Jones. Despite a struggle bus of a season, he made 76 catches for 978 yards and nine touchdowns.

Shook notes that, “his younger teammate, Kenny Golladay, usually gets the love from those casually familiar with Detroit”, and while Golladay was out with an injured Jones flourished.

“From Week 9 to Week 17, Jones caught 25 passes of 10-plus air yards (tied for second in that span) for 519 yards (ranking third) and five touchdowns (tied for second),” he mentions.

And he doesn’t just impress with his catching skills:

Though Golladay might get more love, Jones has offered steady production for the Lions since 2016 — a fact many teams will keep in mind as he approaches free agency.

And onto the rest of your notes.

• As Jeremy mentioned yesterday in notes, the Detroit Lions media crew is down in Alabama for the Senior Bowl. Tim Twentyman offers some Senior Bowl quarterbacks that could interest the Lions.

• While there, they spoke with Matt Miller of thedraftscout.com, listen to that interview here.

• The latest in the quest to seal a Matthew Stafford deal — CBS’s Bryan DeArdo says about a third of all NFL teams have inquired about a trade for the veteran quarterback.

• On a similar note, the Detroit Free Press’ Carlos Monarrez predicts what the Lions will do with each of their 2021 free agents.

• The Lions take quarterback Zach Wilson in Sports Illustrated’s Ric Serritella’s mock draft 1.0.

• Lions Wire’s Jeff Risdon explores how Deshaun Watson’s trade request impacts the Lions and Matthew Stafford.