How GOOD Was PRIME Julio Jones Actually?

if you had to choose who you feel like were the handful of top receivers in today's game no particular order yeah who would you say you I'm I'm going give you my number one my number one is uh uh Julio Jones really Julio Jones has everything Julio Jones is the best wide receiver in the NFL if I'm starting a team and you tell me I can pick a one wide receiver that's who I'm picking from growing up in an extremely violent neighborhood to growing into one of the top five greatest receivers the game has ever seen with speed we had never seen in a 63 frame fans were in awe of the future first ballot Hall of Famer and fans were completely confused when he was traded but just how good was Julio Jones actually born and raised by a single mother as quorus Lopez Julio Jones in Foley Alabama he grew up in a violent neighborhood where his mother Queen Marvin worked hard to keep him out of trouble and push him to do well she was just working a lot in things like that and you know I occasionally sneak out and play football and stuff and I knew I was pretty good and you know I was making older guys miss and um pretty tough just playing in the streets we play throw him up bust him up you know SM a quitter things like that Jones is very close to his brother philli who lost his arm after sustaining a gunshot W in 2014 throughout his childhood Jones showed a natural talent for football and his mother recognized his potential early on she did all she could to support him providing him with the resources he needed to pursue his passion for the sport I was like 12 13 years old I was 5'5 so I always played running back um Pop Warner played running back Middle School Seven eth Grade I played running back and my freshman year of high school I played running back Julio Jones was stealing headlines well before his record-breaking career with the Atlanta Falcons Jones was a key contributor to the football basketball and track and field teams dunked one of my teammates by far the craziest dunk I've ever seen and it was it was a t yeah it was those be nasty them Blake Griffin type it was yeah it was sick I'm going say it took like it took about 15 20 minutes to get the game started but damn it was like that they rushed the floor it was crazy I mean just looking at some of his high school highlights he was an impressive athlete from the get-go foreshadowing a professional career that could send him to the Hall of Fame all the tools that helped him with the Falcons were there to see from an early age as a high schooler Jones was a state champion at long jump triple jump and the high jump also competing as a Sprinter for his efforts in athletics he was named the Gatorade athlete of the year for Alabama in 2006 and 2007 in addition to being recognized as the Mr Alabama track and field athlete in 2007 his physical proudness unsurprisingly translated to the football field nicely helping him earn the name of Waffle House no what why they would you to call you Waffle House cuz I'm always open ooh nice as a junior Jones had 75 receptions for 1,36 yards and 16 touchdowns which was good enough to get him on the under arour All-American team and make him a five-star recruit he was the number one wide receiver in his class meaning all the universities wanted him on their teams but Jones knew he wanted to stay close to home make my decision by where I feel the most comfortable and where I feel like home at so I'm be going to the University of Alabama Jones became the first true freshman receiver to ever start for Alabama catching four balls for 28 yards and a touchdown one of the things coach s told me I really I think that got me to Alabama will win with you or without you and I think he sold me on that cuz I knew then I had to come in and work I a want nobody to give nothing to me you know I want to come in and work for it as a freshman he went on to post 847 yards and four touchdowns as Alabama improved to a 12-2 record Jones was the SEC freshman of the year with Scouts taking note of his incredible combination of size speed and athleticism Jones's best year though came as a junior logging over 1,000 yards and seven touchdowns earning him first team all SEC recognition the season was capped off with an impressive Bowl win over Michigan State in which Jones contributed as a receiver and a rusher he totaled 85 yards on the day including a rushing score which showed that he could do it all Jones decided not to return to Alabama for his senior year instead turning his attention to the NFL he left Alabama with the second most receiving yards in school history the single season record and the fourth most receiving touchdowns as a rare physical specimen it came as no surprise that Jones put on a show at the NFL combine and the craziest part is Jones had a broken bone in his foot but was still able to post the longest long jump in the third fastest 40 yard dash among the wide receivers and to no surprise he was selected within the top 10 picks of that year's draft with the six pick in the 2011 NFL draft the Atlanta Falcons select Julio Jones wide receiver Alabama Jones was the earliest wide receiver taken in franchise history and the Falcons had to trade five draft picks to the Browns to make it happen the year before the Falcons were coming off of a 13 and3 season where they lost in the divisional round of the playoffs Julio Jones was the missing piece they felt they needed to take them to the next level and once he was in the league it didn't take long for Julio to show that he could handle himself in the professional Arena him and Matt Ryan had some incredible chemistry from the get-go posting a solid debut performance that featured five catches for 71 yards he then took an early leap into the Superstar club with a dominant week four display against Seattle the rookie received a whopping 17 targets collecting a 11 of them for 127 yards it took only four games for him to become a player that the Falcons could depend on unfortunately though an injury sustained one week later would knock him out for a few weeks but once he returned to the field it seemed like he didn't miss a beat producing a season High 131 yards in two touchdowns on just three catches against the Indianapolis Colts Jones finished his rookie year with 959 yards and eight touchdowns despite missing three games due to injury he was named to the all rookie team before getting his first taste of playoff action but things didn't go as plan and the Falcons were defeated by the eventual Super Bowl champion New York Giants Jones capitalized on a strong rookie season by elevating his game further as a sophomore in the league he caught 79 passes for 1,198 yards and 10 touchdowns helping Atlanta to a 13 and3 record and earning himself his first Pro Bowl award I mean Jones's impact on the team could not be understating and he almost managed to single-handedly secure the Falcons a Super Bowl appearance with an incredible game against the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship Jones caught 11 of his 13 targets resulting in 182 yards and two touchdowns the Falcons did struggle to run the ball that game relying heavily on Julio to move the ball but despite his dominant performance the Falcons fell just short and had to watch the Super Bowl from home by now though Julio was the focal point of the offense in a superstar in the NFL the 2013 season brought immense frustration though as what looked to be a record-breaking year was cut short by injury after just five weeks a broken foot meant that Julio wouldn't return to the field That season but his 580 yards and two scores in just five games showed what a force he had become What followed though nobody could have predicted he had five consecutive Seasons with over 1,400 receiving yards propelling Julio Jones up the rank as one of the greatest wide receivers to ever play the game Julio's dominance a593 yard season in 2014 and an 18800 yard season in 2015 coincided with two disappointing years from the Falcons I mean in both of those years they didn't even have a winning record Jones was putting up insane numbers but too often they came in losing efforts I mean hell in 2014 Jones went over a 100 yards seven times with the best performance coming late in the season a December clash with the Green Bay Packers saw Jones convert 11 catches into an incredible 259 yards and a touchdown it was another example of Jones putting the team on his back but ultimately not getting the help he needed to secure the win and although his 1500 yards couldn't help the team achieve a winning record it did solidify his status as the future of the team he was rewarded with a shiny new contract which was a 5year $71 million extension and the payday must have helped because Julio quickly got to work racking up 440 yards across the first three games of 2015 the Falcons quickly stretched to a 5-0 record but a late season slump would deny the Falcons a playoff appearance despite the team's disappointing losses Julio was proving to be unstoppable he posted nine games over 100 yards in 2015 finishing up with a league leading 1,871 Ys and eight touchdowns thank thankfully though 2016 brought success to the Falcons led by Matt Ryan and Julio Jones the Falcons posted an 11 and5 record winning the NFC South for the first time in four years the 2016 season was not only special because of the Falcons playoff run but also because it featured one of the most incredible individual performances ever seen in the NFL a week four game against the Panthers will go down in history as one of only six times that a wide receiver receiver has posted 300 yard in a single game Julio Jones 12 catch 300 yard in one touchdown performance against the Panthers was a sight to behold I mean as a kid I was sitting there with my jaw on the floor and it came against a bitter rival in the Panthers 2 Jones already had a reputation in the NFL for being unguardable and his game wrecking ability was on show again in the NFC championship game that year his 180 yard two touchdown performance against Seattle sent the Falcons to the Super Bowl for the first time since 1998 unfortunately what could have been the greatest day of Falcons fans lives turned to infamy after the team choked up a 28-3 lead the devastating loss was one of the most brutal in sports history and is still joked about to this day and although he was held to just four catches in the Super Bowl he did produce a remarkable athletic sideline catch that I mean it looked like it was going to secure the win for Atlanta the loss was heartbreaking but it was another year of individual Brilliance on Jones's part his 1,49 yards marked his third consecutive year over 1,400 yards and he was a big reason why Matt Ryan won the MVP award that year Jones himself was selected as a first team All Pro Player for the seconde running and after years of failing to reach the playoffs losing in that fashion was going to be hard to bounce back from Jones was known for his athletic proudness but his toughness in resilience is an underrated aspect of his game he rebounded from the Super Bowl heartbreak to post another 14400 yard season in 2017 going even better in 2018 by registering a 1600 yard season which led the NFL Jones led the Falcons in receiving in six consecutive Seasons posting at least 1,394 yards in every season between 2014 and 2019 and even looking back to his rookie season Julio Jones's impressive resume included two first team All Pro Bowl selections three second Team all pro selection ctions Seven Pro bowls in two years as the NFL's leading wide receiver it will easily go down as one of the greatest stretches by a wide receiver in NFL history surely solidifying his status as a top five wide receiver of all time and Jones's final season with Atlanta started the same as many would have expected as he caught nine of 12 targets for 157 yards week four of that season was bittersweet for Julio though his four catches for 32 yards meant that he broke Rodney White's all-time career reception records for the Falcons but in that game he would also sustain a hamstring injury that would hamper him through the rest of the year he played in only nine games in 2020 meaning his impressive 1,000 yard streak was over and so was his career as a falcon and at this point injuries were becoming a common thing for Julio Jones at this point greatly restricting his ability to make an impact as a Tennessee Titan in 2021 and as a Tampa Bay Buccaneer in 2022 20 games across these two seasons resulted in just 733 yards and only three touchdowns he started 2023 without a team before signing with the Philadelphia Eagles this year as one of the powerhouses in the NFC Jones will be hoping to play his part in a Super Bowl winning effort there is no doubt that Prime Julio Jones was one of the most feared offensive players in the NFL he was truly Unstoppable for years and can proudly say that he is one of only six players to have over 300 receiving yards in a game his 12th 896 yards and 848 receptions both still stand as all-time records for the Falcons many will argue that he is the greatest Atlanta Falcon of all time and many will push for him to be a first pallot Hall of Famer but what do you guys think let us know down in the comments below and I will catch you guys in the next one