News Article: Julio Jones is the NFL's Chosen One

tidefanbeezer

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Sep 25, 2006
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Bill Simmons' new website The Ringer has an article about Julio Jones that details his rise from high school phenom to NFL superstar.

I can't link to it here, given some salty language in the piece, but its a pretty good read for those interested.
 

RedStar

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Jan 28, 2005
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I found and read the article. Recommend all fans of Julio do the same...great article.

I didn't know how right I was when I posted this:
http://www.tidefans.com/forums/showthread.php?t=135452&highlight=Julio+Jones
It can still be argued they gave up too much to get him though. He's been unbelievably good, but the Falcons have not been.

Since drafting Julio, the Falcons have a record of 41-39. At the end of the day the name of the game is to win titles, and trading away 5 draft picks certainly didn't help their cause. (FWIW, the Falcons are being picked to finish last in the NFC South once again.)

Now, to be clear, that's not Julio's fault, that's the Falcon's fault. Julio has been even better than most people expected him to be. He might just be the best player in the NFL right now. But the Falcons didn't do him any favors by leveraging a lot of their future to get him.

It would be like the Browns trading all their top draft slots for Tom Brady. Sure, you've got Tom Brady, but you've got to get him some help too. Football, more than any other sport, is a team game.
 

RTR91

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It can still be argued they gave up too much to get him though. He's been unbelievably good, but the Falcons have not been.

Since drafting Julio, the Falcons have a record of 41-39. At the end of the day the name of the game is to win titles, and trading away 5 draft picks certainly didn't help their cause. (FWIW, the Falcons are being picked to finish last in the NFC South once again.)

Now, to be clear, that's not Julio's fault, that's the Falcon's fault. Julio has been even better than most people expected him to be. He might just be the best player in the NFL right now. But the Falcons didn't do him any favors by leveraging a lot of their future to get him.

It would be like the Browns trading all their top draft slots for Tom Brady. Sure, you've got Tom Brady, but you've got to get him some help too. Football, more than any other sport, is a team game.
www.sbnation.com/nfl/2015/8/30/9164545/julio-jones-falcons-browns-2011-draft-trade


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TideEngineer08

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It can still be argued they gave up too much to get him though. He's been unbelievably good, but the Falcons have not been.

Since drafting Julio, the Falcons have a record of 41-39. At the end of the day the name of the game is to win titles, and trading away 5 draft picks certainly didn't help their cause. (FWIW, the Falcons are being picked to finish last in the NFC South once again.)

Now, to be clear, that's not Julio's fault, that's the Falcon's fault. Julio has been even better than most people expected him to be. He might just be the best player in the NFL right now. But the Falcons didn't do him any favors by leveraging a lot of their future to get him.

It would be like the Browns trading all their top draft slots for Tom Brady. Sure, you've got Tom Brady, but you've got to get him some help too. Football, more than any other sport, is a team game.
Well, it is especially poor strategy to pin all of your hopes on a WR. To be fair, Atlanta felt like that was all they were missing.
 

RedStar

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Yeah the Browns totally screwed that up.

Guys that were available at all those draft slots the Browns could have selected:

2011
1:21: Cameron Jordan, Mark Ingram, Muhammed Wilkerson, Andy Dalton
2:59: Randall Cobb, Justin Houston, DeMarco Murray
4:124: Julius Thomas, Richard Sherman

2012
1:22: David DeCastro, Dont'a Hightower, Harrison Smith, Doug Martin, Janoris Jenkins, Alshon Jeffrey, Russell Wilson
4:118: (Traded the pick before they ever got to use it.)

Can you imagine how much better the Falcons would be with Cameron Jordan, DeMarco Murray, Richard Sherman, and Dont'a Hightower? (Plus the 4th rounder from the 2012 draft). Or any combination of 4 players from the draft slots mentioned above? Wilkerson, Cobb, Sherman and Russell Wilson? Whew.

This isn't a knock on Julio at all. Julio has done all he possibly can to help the Falcons be a better franchise. He's exceeded expectations. But the Falcons gave up a ton of potential talent to get him.
 
Last edited:

CrimsonForce

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Dec 20, 2012
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It can still be argued they gave up too much to get him though. He's been unbelievably good, but the Falcons have not been.

Since drafting Julio, the Falcons have a record of 41-39. At the end of the day the name of the game is to win titles, and trading away 5 draft picks certainly didn't help their cause. (FWIW, the Falcons are being picked to finish last in the NFC South once again.)

Now, to be clear, that's not Julio's fault, that's the Falcon's fault. Julio has been even better than most people expected him to be. He might just be the best player in the NFL right now. But the Falcons didn't do him any favors by leveraging a lot of their future to get him.

It would be like the Browns trading all their top draft slots for Tom Brady. Sure, you've got Tom Brady, but you've got to get him some help too. Football, more than any other sport, is a team game.
I feel like the Falcons gave up to much also. About the only position that's worth giving up that many picks is the QB position because the QB has the biggest impact on the game. It's important to have an elite WR but as you alluded to the Falcons ended up with to many other holes on their team..
 

RTR91

Super Moderator
Nov 23, 2007
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Yeah the Browns totally screwed that up.

Guys that were available at all those draft slots the Browns could have selected:

2011
1:21: Cameron Jordan, Mark Ingram, Muhammed Wilkerson, Andy Dalton
2:59: Randall Cobb, Justin Houston, DeMarco Murray
4:124: Julius Thomas, Richard Sherman

2012
1:22: David DeCastro, Dont'a Hightower, Harrison Smith, Doug Martin, Janoris Jenkins, Alshon Jeffrey, Russell Wilson
4:118: (Traded the pick before they ever got to use it.)

Can you imagine how much better the Falcons would be with Cameron Jordan, DeMarco Murray, Richard Sherman, and Dont'a Hightower? (Plus the 4th rounder from the 2012 draft). Or any combination of 4 players from the draft slots mentioned above? Wilkerson, Cobb, Sherman and Russell Wilson? Whew.

This isn't a knock on Julio at all. Julio has done all he possibly can to help the Falcons be a better franchise. He's exceeded expectations. But the Falcons gave up a ton of potential talent to get him.
Yep. There are few positions that deserve the ransom the Falcons gave the Browns for Julio. Wide Receiver is not one of those.


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CraigMack

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It would be like the Browns trading all their top draft slots for Tom Brady. Sure, you've got Tom Brady, but you've got to get him some help too. Football, more than any other sport, is a team game.

It would be like trading for Tom Brady and not getting his scouting team that goes around to other teams' practices, his video crew that records other teams' practices, his sound guys that decipher other teams audibles, his locker room spies, his ball guys that adjust the footballs, his sound guys that scramble other teams headsets during games, his guys in the stadium recording and deciphering other teams sideline signals…that would be an iffy trade.
 

CullmanTide

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The NFL draft is a crap shoot at best. They gave 4 extra picks for Julio. Odds are 2 would have been outright busts anyway. You end up with a future Hall of Fame player and the deal of a lifetime.
 

rgw

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They mortgaged the future for the now with Julio...and they still couldn't get it done.


Now I wonder if he'll ever win as much as he ought to...
 

CajunCrimson

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Mar 13, 2001
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It can still be argued they gave up too much to get him though. He's been unbelievably good, but the Falcons have not been.

Since drafting Julio, the Falcons have a record of 41-39. At the end of the day the name of the game is to win titles, and trading away 5 draft picks certainly didn't help their cause. (FWIW, the Falcons are being picked to finish last in the NFC South once again.)

Now, to be clear, that's not Julio's fault, that's the Falcon's fault. Julio has been even better than most people expected him to be. He might just be the best player in the NFL right now. But the Falcons didn't do him any favors by leveraging a lot of their future to get him.

It would be like the Browns trading all their top draft slots for Tom Brady. Sure, you've got Tom Brady, but you've got to get him some help too. Football, more than any other sport, is a team game.
5 draft picks lost is not why the Falcons have struggled......
 

TideMan09

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Just out of curiosity..What do y'all think about Matt Ryan, if you were Atlanta, would y'all stay with Matty Ice after the bad season he had last year..He's been a decent QB for Atlanta, but, I do think Ryan has taken Atlanta as far as he ever will & has reached his proverbial ceiling as a NFL QB..
 

tidefanbeezer

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Just out of curiosity..What do y'all think about Matt Ryan, if you were Atlanta, would y'all stay with Matty Ice after the bad season he had last year..He's been a decent QB for Atlanta, but, I do think Ryan has taken Atlanta as far as he ever will & has reached his proverbial ceiling as a NFL QB..
I think we've seen the peak of Matt Ryan already. I think they should have traded him while his stock was still high and they could have parlayed him into good draft picks.
 

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