Minnesotans may think it’s a bad idea to trade a slew of draft picks for one player. Bill Belichick agrees.
But Atlanta Falcons receiver Julio Jones bears little resemblance to Herschel Walker, even if both starred at Southern football factories and spent time in Georgia. Jones doesn’t speak in the third person, has no designs on a bobsledding career and has rewarded the team that traded for him with a career his teammates describe as otherworldly.
“He’s not really human,” said fellow receiver Mohamed Sanu.
“He’s an alien,” said tight end Austin Hooper.
On one side of Houston are the New England Patriots and their pursuit of dynastic history. On the other side of town are the less-familiar faces from Atlanta, including perhaps the best player in the NFL to have never played in a Super Bowl.
While Antonio Brown and Odell Beckham Jr. have been productive and spectacular, Jones is the NFL wide receiver you would build in a laboratory with the help of a sports psychologist — big, strong, fast, tough and unselfish.
On Friday, Washington cornerback Josh Norman, who faced Jones twice a year when he played for Carolina, tweeted this description of covering Julio: “The sweet sensation of death without dying. You’re trapped in time. Like watching ‘300.’ A sweet death.”
In 2011, Falcons General Manager Thomas Dimitroff ignored Belichick’s advice and traded five draft picks so he could move up and take Jones. In 2015, Jones enjoyed a breakout season, catching 136 passes for 1,871 yards.
This season, as the Falcons diversified their offense, Jones caught 83 for 1,409 yards while missing two games, finishing second in the league in receiving yards.
He leads the league in receiving yards over the past three seasons, with 4,873, and his presence helped Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan to throw 38 touchdown passes to 13 different receivers this season. Jones had six. So did Taylor Gabriel, who was released by the Browns last year.
Ryan could name only 11 of the 13 players he threw touchdown passes to this season. He had no trouble recalling how defenses approached Jones.
“We’ve seen double teams, Cover-2 to his side, bracket coverage, two defenders in man-to-man on either side of him,” Ryan said. “We’ve seen punt coverage on him down in the red zone, where two defenders are pressed up on him and jamming him. The good thing is when he has had games without big numbers we’ve still been productive. And we’ve had games where they cover him like that and he’s still had big games.”
Jones was a track star in high school but chose football because he preferred playing a team sport. The pure athletic ability that allowed him to excel in sprints and jumping events translates perfectly to his chosen position.
“He does stuff that no one else can do,” Hooper said. “That’s not me pumping him up because he’s my teammate. That’s just — watch the film.
“We call him an alien. The way he runs routes, with just how fast and how long his stride lengths are, his routes are different than everyone else’s. He’s so long and so violent with his hands and feet.
“He can propel his body forward so one stride at full speed can be darn near 4 yards. So the way he runs routes, he’s going to have different steps and different timing than everyone else. I mean, different than humans.”
Jones uses his size and strength to fight off tacklers, as he did on his 73-yard catch-and-run against the Packers in the playoffs, and to block.
“He’s one of the most unselfish people I’ve ever been around,” Sanu said.
Not many receivers cover so much ground while remaining down to earth.
“He never asks for the ball,” Ryan said. “Now, he wants it all the time. And he is going to be open a lot of the time. But he’s not a guy that demands it.
“He just goes about taking care of his business and doing his job for the length of the game. It’s amazing with that disposition how often the ball ends up finding him.”
Brown twerks and does Facebook Live shows from the locker room. Beckham proposes to kicking nets and takes untimely Miami vacations.
Jones fishes.
“I just want to get away,” he said. “Just fish and enjoy myself.”
Football’s most understated star is ready for his close-up.
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