Re: NFL Thread: Week 2 - Cards 2-0 SB Bound
I forget whoever said it, maybe it was Jon Gruden, Herm Edwards, or Chris Carter. But whoever it was said that if Julio Jones had another big game like he did during Week 1 then he'd overtake the position of best WR in the league, not just on the Atlanta Falcons... but the best WR in the league which means better than guys like Andre Johnson, Larry Fitzgerald, Wes Welker, Mike Wallace (not 100% on him yet), and the best WR in the NFL... Calvin Johnson, those are arguably the top 5 WR in the NFL not including the hybrid TE/WR guys like: Jimmy Graham, Rob Gronkowski, and Aaron Hernandez.
Well, whoever said that looks like an idiot now because Julio Jones barely showed up tonight on the Monday Night Football game between the Denver Broncos and Atlanta Falcons. His overall stat line was something 4 catches (7 targets) for 14 yards if I'm correct. Yes you can say that Matt Ryan targeted Roddy White because he was more productive but it still doesn't matter because he has shown in the past that he can pass to both guys and get results in a game even if one WR has an elite CB covering him.
Julio Jones is not in the top 5 WR in the NFL. He's stuck in that bunch of above-average receivers who could all be great if in the right situation, on the right team with the right QB, and being the #1 target for that QB... guys like: Brandon Marshall, Dwayne Bowe, Reggie Wayne, Marcus Colston, Hakeem Nicks, A.J. Green, Roddy White, Torrey Smith, Steve Johnson, Victor Cruz, Anquan Boldin, Santonio Holmes, and Vincent Jackson. Some of those WR have the chance at being a truly elite, top 5 WR because they are still young (like: A.J. Green) and because they are the only elite WR (Brandon Marshall) on their team. Julio Jones just might be better than some or even most of those WR but like that NFL analyst (who I still can't remember) said that Jones could become the best WR in the NFL after another impressive week, just won't happen because he's been pretty good for 1 game this season and several games last season. It took Larry Fitzgerald, Andre Johnson, and Calvin Johnson something like 2 or 3 impressive years each before they became ELITE.