Jones still in search of pay dirt
Julio Jones is one of the most talented receivers ever to play pro football. He’s fearless, fast, physical and huge, with amazing instincts and great hands.
He’s prolific, too, as prolific as any receiver this decade, at least in terms of catches and yards.
For whatever head-scratching reasons, however, the eighth-year pro just doesn’t catch many touchdowns. It’s like there’s a Star Wars-type of deflector shield protecting every NFL end zone from Jones.
Entering Week 7 he ranked second in the league with 707 receiving yards and was tied for sixth with 44 catches, but not one grab has gone for a touchdown.
Jones surely hopes to score for the first time in 2018 in the Monday nighter, when his 2-4 Atlanta Falcons host the 1-5 New York Giants.
Alas, this year is a continuing trend for Jones, which began in his fourth year in the league in 2014.
Since then, Jones has been wildly prolific from catches and yards standpoints (he has the highest yards-per-game average in NFL history, with 96.7) but not touchdowns. He scored only six TDs via the pass in 2014, eight in 2015, six in 2016 and just three last year. That’s 23 TDs in his last 67 games, after snaring 20 in the first 23 games of his career from 2011-13.
The Giants can relate to the frustrating anomaly.
They have Odell Beckham Jr., who similarly catches a lot of passes for a lot of yards (he’s second only to Jones in NFL history with a 93.0 yards-per-game average) but not for a lot of touchdowns anymore.
Beckham caught 35 TDs in his first 42 NFL games from 2014-16. But in four games last year before breaking an ankle, and in six this year, he has caught only four TDs total.
Dan Quinn, Atlanta’s head coach since 2015 and chief defensive strategist, was asked a few days ago if Jones’ and Beckham’s low TD totals are a function of defences blanketing them in the red zone.
“I would say that’s definitely part of it,” Quinn said. “When you go into a game, you’ve got to make sure, especially down in the red zone, (to watch them).
“Both of them have such a big catching radius and aggressively go after it that you say, hey, make sure these two guys get special attention.
“It is surprising that between them they don’t have more. However, I think that is a by-product of special attention going their way, which creates opportunities for other men in those windows. I can’t speak for New York, but I can certainly do so for our side. That’s where (receiver) Calvin Ridley, (tight end) Austin Hooper and some of (our) guys have maybe gotten some more favourable looks.”