Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones is a special talent, and as his main competition struggle with contracts, he has a prime opportunity to be the premier player in the NFL at his position.
With the news that DeAndre Hopkins is holding out from Houston Texans training camp (via Kevin Patra of NFL.com) and Antonio Brown is dissatisfied with his contract situation with the Pittsburgh Steelers (via NFL.com’s Marc Sessler), Julio Jones must be seeing an opportunity to establish himself as the best receiver in football.
(Editor’s Note: ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that Hopkins has just ended his holdout.)
Already at camp and making his standard impressive plays, Jones is reestablishing the connection he has with quarterback Matt Ryan, which is already one of the most potent QB-WR combinations in the NFL.
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Day four is here! And Julio is already warmed up #FalconsCamp #RiseUp pic.twitter.com/qnfl8MO6Wv
— Atlanta Falcons (@AtlantaFalcons) July 31, 2016
After taking the NFL by storm to start 2015, the Atlanta Falcons stumbled through the latter half of the season, finishing with an 8-8 record. Jones was one of the biggest drivers of their success and was seemingly the only weapon the Falcons had at times.
His monster 2015 performance (136 catches, 1871 yards) led the NFL at his position. Jones barely edged out Brown (136 catches, 1834 yards), and Hopkins was hot on the heels of both of them (111 catches, 1521 yards). Both Brown and Hopkins got in the end zone more, however, racking up ten and 11 touchdowns to Jones’ eight.
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It could be argued convincingly that Jones is already the best receiver in football. He’s certainly a part of the conversation with Brown and Hopkins.
2016 can be his chance to cement his legacy as a leader and prove that he truly is the best receiver in the NFL.
Stability matters, even to NFL veterans. When distractions like Brown’s contract surface they can create cracks in the carefully crafted balance of an NFL team. The Steelers are already tight against the salary cap (only four million in cap space per Spotrac), making the situation difficult to navigate.
Brown is well respected as a professional and has a great rapport with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, so it may not seem like much, but that one chink in the armor could be enough for Jones to slip ahead during the season and be seen as the definitive best in the NFL.
If Brown’s contract situation is creating a crack, Hopkins’ holdout is creating a gaping hole for the Texans. For all intents and purposes, Hopkins was the entire offense for the Texans last season. Yet, as outlined by NFL Spin Zone’s Justin Huffman, he’ll be making less than incoming rookie wideout Will Fuller. As Huffman says, try to “wrap your head around that.”
Hopkins did the Texans no favors, and he did himself no favors. With a new quarterback in Brock Osweiler and a team that desperately needs a stable leader, Hopkins was forcing the Texans to have issues beyond simply working on the rapport with his QB. Brown’s contract situation can be the distraction that lets Jones beat him in 2016, Hopkins’ holdout could be the distraction that forces his entire team off the rails.
must read: Texans can't afford to ignore DeAndre Hopkins
Not everything is perfect with the Atlanta Falcons, of course, but Jones seems to be in the more stable situation at this point. Even minor concerns can be exploited in the NFL and while these three receivers don’t directly compete against each other on the field, they do compete on the stat sheet. Jones may finally pull ahead of his peers in 2016.