Julio Jones and Calvin Ridley should be one of the NFL’s top one-two punches at wide receiver in 2020. Jones is still producing at an elite level, while Ridley has put up 1,687 yards and 17 touchdowns in two seasons.
Outside of those two, there are some questionable receiving threats with the departure of Austin Hooper, who finished the year with the second-most catches (75) on the team.
Pro Football Focus released their rankings of every team’s receiving corps entering the 2020 season, and Atlanta was listed at No. 13:
Any time you have a top-two like Julio Jones and Calvin Ridley, it’s hard to drop a team too far on this list. Jones has been the highest-graded wide receiver in the NFL over the past five seasons and the undisputed champ of our yards per route run metric. Ridley has gotten off to a solid start to his career with grades of 68.8 and 74.9 in his first two seasons and should continue to improve next season. The problem is that the Falcons don’t have much behind those guys. Hayden Hurst should do a solid job of replacing Austin Hooper’s production, but the depth chart at wide receiver quickly falls to relatively unproven options like Russell Gage and Laquon Treadwell.
Russell Gage may be the player outsiders are sleeping on. He’s developed nicely over two seasons, catching a career-high 49 catches for 446 and one touchdown in 2020.
Plus, Hayden Hurst is bound to make a big statistical jump as the No. 1 tight end in a pass-happy offense. As for former first-round pick Laquon Treadwell, he won’t have to deal with the pressure of his draft expectations in Atlanta.
