Julio Jones Must Show More Consistency in 2018
By Kit Anderson
Julio Jones is arguably the best wide receiver in the League and easily the best player on the Falcon’s roster. Still, there is room for improvement and reason to think Julio Jones should be better in 2018.
Watching Julio Jones play for the Falcons has been one of the most exciting things I have ever seen in my years of watching football. Jones is a monster who can hurt his opponents in so many ways. He can outrun you or if you unluckily get in his way he will run through you.
Gang tackles and hugging his legs is the only way to bring Jones to the ground. He is a great route runner as well with an understanding of what he is doing every play. His IQ allows him to run every route in the route tree effectively and to run decoy plays as if he were trying to get open.
With all that said, the 2017 season was a bit of a down year for Julio Jones. While his season was still amazing, for a transcendent player like Julio it could have been much better. He finished the season with 1,444 yards and had 88 catches on 144 targets.
Those are great jaw-dropping numbers for any receiver not named Antonio Brown or Julio Jones. Where could the receiver have been better? There are two areas of concern for Jones that he must improve on.
The first is his ability to score in the red-zone a product of play calling more than his own ability. With only three scores all of last season that will not cut it for the best receiver in football. He has to be fed the ball more often in the red-zone and must convert his chances.
The second and biggest issue that I have with the way Jones played in 2017 was his inconsistency. Jones had 7 drops including a very memorable one against the division rival Carolina Panthers.
While I still believe Jones to be the best receiver in football the best receiver can’t be in the top of the league in drops. His 7 are tied for 2nd worst in the League and are a big downgrade over his 2016 season.
In 2016 Jones caught 64% of his passes compared to 59% this year and in 2016 only dropped the ball 3 times.
These are numbers Jones has to improve on this season. The Falcons need him to catch at least 60% of passes thrown his way and stop dropping the football.
Julio Jones is the best receiver in the League and the best player on the Falcon’s roster. With that fact in mind, Jones must understand he is held to a higher standard. A standard set for judging great players who will be Canton bound.
Julio Jones must improve his red-zone attack and his efficiency in the 2018 season. If he can, the Falcons will return to offensive dominance and Jones will make it clear who the best receiver in football is.