Atlanta Falcons: Complete faith in Julio Jones

With the Atlanta Falcons’ comeback win over the New York Giants last week, Roddy White broke his 130-game streak by not completing a catch. His streak began on Dec. 3, 2006 when Michael Vick was quarterback. However, the Falcons aren’t sweating with star receiver Julio Jones on their side.

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Jones’ star status was confirmed when he signed a $71.25 million five-year contract extension earlier this season. The contract matches the talent; he’s tied with New England Patriots’ Julian Edelman for the NFL lead of 22 catches, including two touchdowns.

White was only targeted once in last week’s win. Jones was dominant in that game, tying Tony Gonzalez’s franchise record with 13 catches. Leonard Hankerson completed six catches. White will have to adjust to his new role as a supporting actor with Hankerson, Devin Hester, and tight end Jacob Tamme all making their mark.

"“I’m just going to play my role and do what I have to do for our team, whatever it takes for us to win,” White said. “I’m just going to sit back. He’s been doing a good job. He’s on pace to catch like 160 passes, so obviously that’s really good. He’s been lights-out and we’re going to need him.”"

White managed four catches for 84 yards in the season opener against the Philadelphia Eagles. Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan has believes that White will have more big games.

"“He’s going to make a lot of plays for us,” Ryan said, adding he’ll “find different guys at different times, depending on how they play us. It’s going to be a different guy every week stepping up.”"

The numbers support Falcons coach Dan Quinn’s belief that the receiver is one of Atlanta’s deepest threats.

"“Not only is it a deep group, it’s one of our most competitive groups just in terms of the way they work and go after it,” Quinn said Thursday."

Last season, Jones set a franchise record with 1,593 receiving yards. The only NFL receiver that has come close to the 2,000 yards mark was Detroit Lions’ Calvin Johnson, who had the NFL record 1,964 yards on 122 catches in 2012.

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Kyle Shanahan, the offense coordinator for the Falcons, think Jones can and will make the 2,000 mark this season. The most yards for an offensive player coached by Shanahan was Andre Johnson’s 1,575 yards for the Houston Texans in 2008.

Shanahan relayed that sentiment on his faith in Jones:

"“Eventually, [Calvin Johnson’s] record will be broken. I guess you need, what, only 36 more yards? Someone will do it eventually, yes. It would be awesome if it was Julio. But, I don’t know. You like to spread [passes] around, too. Eventually, a guy ends up getting double-covered and stuff. Always forcing it to the guy usually helps out other people. So, we’ll see how the year goes.”"

Shanahan often preaches balance in the offense with the addition of a strong running game. That ideology would seem combative with Jones’ output, but he could easily benefit from a solid running as well. The running game sets up more play-action passes and long throws down field.

“If Julio’s rocking and rolling, you’ve got to feed him the pill,” White said. “If he keeps doing what he’s doing and just going out there and putting stats on top of stats, he’ll be fine.”

The Eagles and Giants, the Falcons’ first two competitors, had trouble covering Jones. Double-teaming Jones didn’t occur too often, either, because of Shanahan’s offensive scheme.

"“They’re trying to double him, but we’re moving him around and doing things like that,” White said. “It’s hard to pinpoint anybody in this offense because we call formations, and it’s just wherever the guys line up at. It’s hard coming out [of] the huddle to say, ‘We’re going to do this to this guy, or we’re going to do that to that guy,’ because Kyle does a good job of just coming up with formations that you can’t just double a guy. Julio doesn’t just spot up on one side of the field like, ‘Come get me.'”"

Jones’ success will likely continue for the most season, with an easy schedule. He won’t be forced to face top cornerbacks like Richard Sherman from the Seattle Seahawks, Darrelle Revis from the New York Jets, and Chris Harris from the Denver Broncos. He will, however, be forced to face Vontae Davis from the Indianapolis Colts, assuming Davis is healthy.

Jones is on pace for 2,208 yards based on his stellar start this season. He’ll have to keep up the numbers, though, with Antonio Brown on pace for a higher mark of 2,624 yards.

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