Julio Jones had another brilliant season in 2018. Jones led the NFL in receiving yards and routes per route run (again), but he still isn’t getting all the credit he deserves. For example, Pro Football Focus is releasing their annual top 101 players in the NFL list this week and Jones came in at No. 26 on their list. So far, he’s the only Falcons player to make the cut. Here’s what they had to say about another electrifying year from No. 11.
“Jones ended the year with 113 catches for 1677 receiving yards from 573 snaps in route. His average of 2.93 yards per route run ranked first among receivers with at least 200 routes run, and it’s also fifth-highest mark since 2014, with the only player/seasons ahead of him being Julio Jones in 2016, Julio Jones in 2017, Julio Jones in 2015 and A.J. Green in 2014.”
While his actual numbers are undeniably great, this ranking is of course subjective. From where we’re sitting, there’s definitely not 25 better players in football than Julio Jones. Not this year. Not any year.
Jones isn’t the only player who got a highly questionable ranking from PFF, either. For starters, the Vikings’ superstar safety Harrison Smith just barely made the list at No. 101 overall. To claim there’s 100 better players than Smith is even more off base than 25 for Jones.
It’s also worth questioning how many other Atlanta players will make the list with only that many left to be revealed. Matt Ryan will certainly be one of them – but if he’s the only one then PFF’s list will be missing at least a few names.
