Julio Jones is going to be a special player in the National Football League.
And the Atlanta Falcons know it.
The Falcons paid a kings ransom to land Julio Jones and landed themselves one of the five most talented receivers the NFL has seen since Calvin Johnson.
Coming into the 2010 NCAA season it was Julio Jones and not A.J Green who was regarded as the top prospect at the wide receiver position.
In Jones the Falcons have landed someone that could by all accounts take the number one receiver role from the talented Roddy White within two years.
Jones is a possession receiver who has vertical threat speed whose 4.39 40-time beats that of Roddy White’s 4.45.
And Jones was running on a fractured foot.
Needless to say this move makes the Falcons legit contenders once again and make this offense one of the most dangerous and exciting in the NFL.
Fantasy Impact:
Julio Jones has the potential for 80+ receptions, 1,000+ yards and 8 TD’s but he will have to share targets with two of the best in the game in Tony Gonzalez and Roddy White.
Opposing defenses are now facing some tough decisions and will have to figure out how to stop White, Gonzalez and Jones while also remembering the Michael Turner is in the backfield.
It is hard to project numbers for Julio Jones because there are so many talented mouths to feed in Atlanta, but Matt Ryan threw 571 times last year which leads us to believe that Jones, health permitting, should get over 90 targets for the season.
We will be providing a more thorough analysis once free agency period has begun where we will analyze how Jones’ presence will affect the rest of the skill players on the Falcons offense.
