Cole, Dede Westbrook and Chris Conley will work as the Jaguars' top three receivers Sunday against the Raiders with No. 1 option DJ Chark (ankle) ruled out for the contest, John Oehser of Jacksonville's official site reports. "Obviously, we're looking for those guys to step up," coach Doug Marrone said after Friday's practice.
Westbrook (55 receptions for 569 yards and two touchdowns in 12 games) and Conley (38-632-2 in 13 games) have well outpaced Cole in production this season, leaving those two as better bets to absorb most of Chark's vacated target volume. There should still be room for Cole to have a regular role in three-receiver sets and play at least half of the Jaguars' offensive snaps, assuming the Raiders keep the game competitive and force Jacksonville to deviate from an overly run-heavy script. With a 55.1 percent catch rate and an 8.1 yard-per-target mark for his career, Cole has essentially been a boom-or-bust option during his three NFL seasons and may need to connect on a deep-ball target to bring value in DFS contests.