I have been trying to post new piece once a day at the least, but with my paying job keeping me busy, having to spend time with the family (I mean WANTING to spend time, just kidding honey!!! Don't get mad), and it being relatively slow in the NFL world with the fan lockout (Yes, I think the owners and the players are locking out the fans and stopping us from enjoying our favorite past time. No matter how you slice it, we the fans, are the only victims in this ugly game) I have just not had enough time to get any real writing done. So while I work on constructing some new pieces with fresh ideas, I thought I would re-post one of my previous works. The reason I chose this one (with a few edits) is because I have been saying for a long time that Julio Jones was the best WR in the draft, and have been getting ridiculed for it. Well, now Peter King in MMQB has said that Jones has already passed Green on some teams boards (take that Evan Silva, just kidding....kinda...Follow Evan Silva on Twitter here @evansilva). So here is the article originally posted on February 28, 2011 (with a few edits).
The consensus top 2 receivers in the draft this year are A.J. Green of Georgia and Julio Jones of Alabama. From everything that I have read and watched on TV, A.J. Green is the unanimous best receiver in the class. I disagree.
Now I could try and make my point by focusing on the numbers from the "Underwear Olympics" (combine), and to set the record straight I do not believe that watching football players in tight shorts and shirts run around really tells you that much about how they will perform in full pads with 21 (I hope I did the math right) other players running around with them in the same confined area, but I will get to that later. I will use the combine numbers only because they strengthen my argument (might not be fair but I am doing it anyways). In all the important categories (40 yard dash is kind of important for WR's) Julio Jones outperformed A.J. Green. He was more than a second faster in the 40, had a better vertical leap by over 4 inches, and broad jumped by almost a foot more. The only area that A.J. Green won in was the measurements, he was just under 1 inch taller. These numbers tell me that Julio Jones is the better athlete and WR is a very athletic position. But like I said I am not going to use the combine numbers to try and make my point.
When I look at Jones and Green side by side the comparisons to current NFL WR's are instant. Jones reminds me of Terrell Owens while A.J. Green has more of a Randy Moss body. I believe Jones has more explosion off the line and will fight through jams at the line better than Green because he is a more physical WR. Jones's body type also lends itself to being able to take more hits and should allow him the advantage of "getting small" and absorbing hits while going across the middle while Green's body gives off the impression of being more of a deep, jump ball threat and while he may be able to go across the middle he leaves a bigger target for MLB's dropping into coverage and roaming safeties to unload on (even though I have watched Julio go up and get some balls during his college career). Overall I see Julio Jones as being more dynamic and A.J. Green being more 1-dimensional in the NFL. I could keep going on but I want to keep this at a decent length so people will read the whole thing before tuning out hopefully.
The most important criteria to evaluate when looking at draft prospects is without a doubt their college film. Unfortunately I do not have access to it and since I was not planning on starting a blog I do not have notes like I used to take during the football season, so this is going off what I remember and a few things that I have read. I remember both players being complete beasts in the SEC (which as a Razorback fan I follow closely), both players were "gamebreakers" capable of opening up a game with one play. Julio Jones stood out among all other players I watched the last couple of years and here is why:
1) He seemed to be used in more ways, I remember him being a powerful and agile runner on reverses and screens.
2) He always made the play when it mattered.
3) Most important he was a dynamic blocker for the run game. Everyone knows that Alabama has had one of the most powerful run games in the nation the last few years and Julio Jones was a major part in it. He was a strong blocker on the edge and you very rarely saw the guy he was blocking make the play. This tells me that he is ready to be an every down receive in the NFL, he will not be a liability in the running game. I would compare him to Hines Ward and Roy Williams (underrated as a blocker) when it comes to run blocking. Georgia also has a history of having a strong ground game, but I do not recall ever going "wow, look at that great block A.J. Green just threw" which I did many times during Bama games.
What stood out to me about A.J. Green's game which many will say is the most important is that he always seemed to catch the ball like he was bitten by a radioactive spider (Do not try microwaving a spider and having it bite you, it won't give you super powers, trust me). I specifically remember watching him work the sidelines in a few games and he was snatching everything out of the air. It kind of reminded me of the way Chris Carter used to work the sidelines except Green has big hands and a long reach that allow him to get the ball anywhere. The other stuff that I have read about Green say that he has the "it" factor, a nose for the ball, good route running, etc. Those things are vital in the NFL and I believe he will be a successful WR, just not as complete a player as Julio Jones.
As I have thought about this more and more, there are a couple of "red flags" that pop up when thinking/talking about Julio vs A.J. debate, and those are the ever important "character" issues. Julio Jones has none, was never in trouble in college (or should I say "never got caught in college"), has a work ethic superior to most prospects, and seems to be a well rounded guy overall. A.J. on the other hand, had a mini-scandal in college when he was busted selling his jersey. Editors Note: I completely disagree with almost everything the NCAA does and stands for (read about it here , here, & here so while I am going to "mark" A.J. because of this it is not because I think what he did was wrong, it is because he knew the rules and chose to break them anyways which to me means he does not make the best decisions. That small transgression, along with his reported 10 on the wonderlic test (which I do not think means much, read a great article about it from my good Twitter friend Luis DeLoureiro...Follow him here on Twitter @deloureiro) it leads me to wonder whether or not he will be able to make "sight adjustments" and read defenses at the next level.
Ultimately only time will tell (5 years minimum, 8 if you are Brandon Lloyd) who will be the better NFL WR, but in this day and age of paying huge salaries to unproven guys at the top of the draft, and how far a bad 1st round pick can set your franchise back, I am going with Julio Jones every time.
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